Planet Havoc by Tim Waggoner

Author:Tim Waggoner [Waggoner, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: zombies, horror, action and adventure, media tie-in
ISBN: 9781839081255
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2022-04-05T16:04:50+00:00

Nineteen

Sidney was reviewing the data the station’s research team had gathered on the captive Neo-Xeno when Luis’ voice came over her suit’s comm.

“Everyone to the central dome. We need to talk.”

Despite her real mission, Sidney was glad to hear the man’s voice. For the last few minutes they’d been listening to the sound of weapons fire coming from outside. Listening to the team battle Neo-Xenos had been agony for Dwain, who’d wanted to assist his comrades, but Luis had ordered him and Assunta to remain in the domes as protection for Sidney and Jena. Now that the battle was over, Dwain seemed relieved.

“You heard the boss,” he said. “Come on.”

“You go on ahead. I need a few minutes to finish going through this data. It may help us fight the Neo-Xenos.”

It looked for a moment like Dwain might protest, but then he nodded and walked off. When he’d exited the dome, Sidney bowed her head over the computer console. She knew the humans had only been defending themselves from attack, but had they even attempted to communicate with the Neo-Xenos? Had they once considered what the situation might look like from their point of view? Of course not, and how many Neo-Xenos and humans had died because of this shortsightedness? Such a waste.

Sidney believed in the Safekeeper mission with all her heart. Humans had an innate tendency to claim and use whatever resources they found in their environment, a legacy from their origins as tool-using hominids. If an object was in reach, they grabbed hold of it and found a use for it. And once they had it in their possession, they would fight and kill to keep it for themselves and for their tribe – another legacy of their primitive origins.

That’s what had happened when humans first encountered her people well over a century ago. At first, they viewed the Empusa as shapeshifting monsters, little more than animals. But humans soon realized that if they could exploit the Empusa’s ability to change forms – whether by enslaving them or duplicating their abilities – they would have a formidable weapon. Many Empusa were captured and experimented on, but it was not a simple thing to keep shape changers imprisoned – especially when they were intelligent – and some managed to escape. They masqueraded as humans, learned their ways, mastered their technology, and acquired starships. They returned to the Empusan homeworld and evacuated the rest of their people. Thus, the Empusa moved out into the galaxy and hid among humans.

Eventually, humans recognized the Empusa as sentient beings and laws were made forbidding their exploitation. The Empusa were invited to join the Coalition as full-fledged members – at least on paper. In reality, the races of the Coalition didn’t trust the shapeshifters, and the Empusa’s relationship with the galaxy’s other sentients was rocky at best. There were rumors that clandestine experiments on Empusa still continued to this day, and Sidney feared they were true. Because of how the humans had attempted to

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