The Darkside War by Zachary Brown

Author:Zachary Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Saga Press

14

“Unfortunately,” said a flat, toneless voice, “I recognize you. I apologize.”

I tried to sit up with a gasp, but the familiar alien petals of a medical pod gripped my chest firmly. The struthiform with the burn scars stood in front of me.

“Should I tell you my name?” it asked. “Would that be fair? I know your name now: Devlinhart.”

I swallowed. It hurt. Something had been shoved down my throat and pulled out. Maybe I’d inhaled some water? I remembered being yanked out by tentacles and thrown onto the mud by a disgusted Zeus.

“I’m Shriek, of the One Hundred and Fourth Thunder Clutch,” the struthiform said. “What was it like?”

“What was what like?” I asked hoarsely.

“Dying,” Shriek said conversationally.

I stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

“The Illustrious Leader, our Commander Zeus, left you in the mud without medical attention for a half hour, where you drowned due to inhalation of water when he yanked you out too quickly.”

“The fuck?” I struggled to get out of the pod, suddenly feeling trapped and claustrophobic. The memory of water rushing up through my nostrils and gagging me filled the back of my head. “How long have I been here?”

“A few days. I had you sleep. Your arm is unable to visit; they are too tired. They’ve been made to run a great deal.”

I groaned. “Zeus.” If anything had thawed with the arm, it would be frozen again. They would hate me now.

“Far be it from me, a simple rebuilder of broken tissues and bones, a low-ranking survivor who failed to die defending my home, to criticize a great leader like Zeus”—the alien glanced down at a readout—“but such instructing might be considered by some, though it is not my place to say this, somewhat callous and wasteful of life. Luckily for you, I am here.”

Shriek leaned forward and delicately tapped my nose with the tip of a finger claw. I jerked back and coughed.

“Yes, lucky for you,” the struthiform mused. “And soon you’ll be healthy enough to go back to training. And you, too, will be alive and full of vigor, ready to experience what it will be like to lose your own home world. Congratulations on not dying; the Arvani appreciate it.”

I shook my head. “Lose our home world?” That didn’t make any sense. “The Conglomeration is light-years away. That’s why we’re going to be shipped far off. Why our volunteers have yet to come back.”

“They are light-years away. But what are light-years to beings like the Pcholem, who run the Accordance’s starships? They live in the Great Ships, skipping from star to star. And for the Conglomeration, a light-year is a few months’ journey. Look at my scars, human. They’re closer than you think. If they found you like we found you, from all the noise you broadcast out to the suns, it will not take them long to come sniffing around to see if your genetic stock will add value to the Conglomeration. I wonder what they will use humans for. I’m told my kind were rapidly evolved into package delivery systems.

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