Scalzi, John - Old Man's War 3 - The Last Colony by Scalzi John

Author:Scalzi, John
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2007-07-04T00:23:43+00:00

“You’ve lost me again, General,” orenThen said.

“Look,” Gau said, and pointed toward his ship again. “You can see the Gentle?”

“Yes,” orenThen said.

“Tell me what else you see,” Gau said.

“I see stars,” orenThen said. “What else am I supposed to be seeing?”

“Keep watching,” Gau said.

A moment later a point of light appeared in the sky, near the Gentle. Then another, and another.

“More ships,” orenThen said.

“Yes,” Gau said.

“How many?” orenThen asked.

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John Scalzi - Old Man's War 3 - The Last Colony (v1.2)

“Keep watching,” Gau said.

The ships winked in, singly, then in pairs and triplets, then in constellations.

“So many,” orenThen said, after some time.

“Keep watching,” Gau said.

OrenThen waited until he was sure no more ships were coming before he turned again to look at Gau, who was still looking into the sky.

“There are four hundred and twelve ships in your sky,” Gau said. “One ship from every member race of the Conclave. This is the fleet with which we will visit every world that was colonized, without authorization, after the Agreement.” Gau turned again and looked for his lieutenant, whom he could barely see in the gloom. Gau gave his lieutenant a second nod. The soldier spoke in his communicator again.

From each ship in the sky, a beam of coherent light stabbed into the colony on the riverbank, blanketing the colony in white. OrenThen let out an agonized, bursting cry.

“Spotlights, Chan,” Gau said. “Only spotlights.”

It took a few moments before orenThen could respond. “Spotlights,” he said, finally. “But only for the moment, correct?”

“At my order, every ship in the fleet will refocus its beam,” Gau said. “Your colony will be destroyed, and every member race of the Conclave will have a hand in it. This is how it has to be done. Security for all, responsibility from all. And no race can say it did not agree to the cost.”

“I wish I’d killed you when I first saw you here,” orenThen said. “Us standing here talking about sunsets when you had this waiting for me. You and your damned Conclave.”

Gau spread his arms, opening himself. “Kill me, Chan. It won’t save this colony. It won’t stop the Conclave, either. Nothing you can do will stop the Conclave from taking this planet, or the next, or the next. The Conclave is four hundred peoples. Every race who fights against it fights alone. The Whaid.

The Rraey. The Fran. The Humans. All of the others who have started colonies since the Agreement. If nothing else, it’s a matter of numbers. We have more. One race against one other race is one thing.

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John Scalzi - Old Man's War 3 - The Last Colony (v1.2) One race against four hundred is quite another. All it will take is time.”

OrenThen turned away from Gau and toward his colony, bathed in light. “I’ll tell you something,”

orenThen said to Gau. “You might find it ironic. When I was chosen to lead this colony, I warned the ataFuey that you would come for it. You and the entire Conclave.

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