When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (64 page)

             
“Roger, sir
.”
He turned and jogged off toward the decontaminated area. Huge white domes marked the only truly clean space left on the planet. Whether they were shooting the real bad guys or not, the invasion had begun. Now it was just a matter making a plan to take it back, and executing. Captain Graham stared at the Boxti stronghold, anger burning inside his chest. New Eden was more his home than the broke town in Colorado where he'd been born. It would take more than a little virus to move him. If the Boxti wanted this planet so bad, the
y’
d have to go through the Cavemen first.

-                           
IV                            -

              Eruk had never felt so proud. The plan was unfolding as designed down to the last detail. The human
s’
weakness was in their obsessive pursuit of peace over conflict. Rather than meet a hostile opponent on the field of battle, they sought out opportunities to parlay, even at the detriment of their own planet. They had allowed the carrier to land without so much as a single nuclear exchange, and barely reacted to the release of the Druumatan. Hardly sentient when compared to the host parasite inside his own body, the young creatures had served their purpose in distracting the alie
n’
s military while the citadel completed deployment.

             
His ship had taken minor damage during the exchange with the large cruiser and equally massive carrier. Their technology was
n’
t as far advanced as those of the species that designed his dreadnought, but it packed a mean punch. The Qom slaves were wasting precious hours completing repairs. It infuriated the Cthanul, though he knew his anger would solve nothing. He walked the halls of the great dreadnought, delivering an impatient swat to any workers foolish enough to come close.

             
“Patience is the virtue of the wise, and the crutch of a coward
.”
The Druum
a’
s voice tickled Eru
k’
s mind
.“
How fai
r’
s your grand conquest of the humans, oh great and powerful Warlord? Have you successfully tamed them with your almighty threats of peace
?
”

             
“Why am I blamed for following orders? I should rip you from my chest and boil your flesh in oil, creature
.”
That earned him a painful spasm. Lightning coursed through his ribcage, but he fought back a scream into a low growl
.“
Does my obedience to the Horde King anger you, great worm
?”
And another jolt. Smoke burned in his nostrils.

             
The Druuma spat angrily
.“
Mind your tongue, Ruall. Your gift of free will is an honor, not a right. It can be taken away as easily as it was given. And do not think your words escape the ears of That which holds the Great Seat. My link remains forever unbroken, no matter your attempts to the otherwise
.
”

             
“I could bury this planet in the ashes of its inhabitants, yet I am ordered to play games with these creatures
.
”

             
“That you could see beyond the boundaries of your ship, you might show the promise of a Cleric
.”
The Druuma laughed
.“
But you are still a warrior at heart, seeking only blood and violence as a means to an end. That is why the Cthanul were so easy to destroy. They sought out the fight, and we responded in kind
.
”

             
Eruk gripped the edge of his blade, the pronged Gonali knife taken from the still dying king of some forgotten civilization. He thought that he had long ago forsaken the concept of honor, but the constant bombardment of insults demanded response. Yet to strike down the parasite would mean a painful end to them both, and Eruk was not ready to die.

             
“When did they take your kind, worm
?”
He gritted his teeth for the surge of anguish, but it never came. Before he knew it, his feet had carried him to the bridge
.“
Are you there
?
”             

             
“I am always here
,”
came the lethargic reply
.“
Our planet exists in the same system as Boxt, so we were among the first. On our home we were nothing, pathetic creatures at the bottom of a very large food chain. Our sentience was a curse. With effort, we could attach to one of the mindless predators on the surface, but it was a short life. When Boxti came for us, we welcomed the call to arms. It was our guidance to the Great King that led to the conquest of worlds far beyond the scope of a few systems. In essence, we were the catalysts to the fall of the Great Civilizations. It is an honor that led to our placement near the Lord, as his closest advisors and confidants
.
”

             
Eruk did
n’
t have an insult or retort. For once in this miserable relationship, he felt a strange respect for the parasite. It had lived inside him so long, he barely conceived of it as a separate species
.“
Have you been with other hosts
?
”

             
The Druuma laughed
.“
Are you jealous? Yes, I have been hosted by many others during the great conquest. My life is measured in ages beyond your own conception. A benefit to a slow and uncomplicated evolution. I rode in the back of a continent-sized Brotillias whale for centuries, destroying that water world stone by stone. I whispered in the minds of the Yorek elder god until they prostrated before the true King. I lived the conquest
.
”

             
“Can you show me
?”
He felt a strange elation. In his readings of the Gro
l‘
Nahja, the stories of the Great Civilizations always fascinated him. To have brought down empires that lasted hundreds of thousands of years must have been such an honor. To a warrior caste, it was the greatest of dreams to drop an entire race to its knees. For a moment, there was nothing as the Druuma considered the request, and then a flash of images so intense they felled the giant Cthanul. He lay on the ground, watched by the crew on the bridge with unease, as the lifespan of the worm played out in all its glory.

             
He saw the bright center of the galaxy, the black and green planet from which the Druuma came. Far from the syste
m’
s sun, the rock bordered on a frozen wasteland. Immense pockets of bubbling white pitch allowed life to flourish around a natural oasis. The life age flashed by, and Eruk watched the Druuma burrow deep to avoid the hideous beasts on the surface. Then, one day, something amazing happened. Strange ships landed and lithe, many-limbed creatures filed out walking unsteadily on four legs. Their eyes bore the crimson glint of the Drovan, and Eruk knew that these were Boxti slaves. They were the first, the explorers of some forgotten species that rescued the Kin
g’
s army from their prison world. These gangly servants scoured the landscape, searching for the sentient life they had detected from above. Then, emerging at last from the golden ship, a Boxti Acolyte. If the scriptures were correct, this was Kumarat, the first Blood King and brother to the King of Hosts.

             
The warlord thrilled at what he was seeing. This was the first chapter of the Gro
l‘
Nahja played out before his eyes. Using stolen technology, the Boxti escaped their Homeworld and rescued the Druuma from a neighboring world. It was the union that began the Great Conquest.

             
Eruk watched as the alien explorers marched deeper and deeper into the plane
t’
s crust, past huddled masses of pale and glistening worms. While the Druuma were sentient, they had not advanced their civilization beyond an underground kingdom. Evolution had not been kind, leaving the creatures pitifully unprepared for the dangers of surface life. But that did not make them completely vulnerable. As the spindly scouts ventured further down, a curious animal followed their path down from above. Kabra were docile mammals that ate what little vegetation grew on the barren planet, and most predators left them be. They did
n’
t have much meat on their brittle bones anyway. But an intruder was an intruder. As soon as the furry white pup entered the cavern, the Druuma struck out.

             
From a hollowed out nook in the wall, the parasites spat out gobs of pink froth that stuck and sizzled on the small quadruped's back. The dog-like creature howled in pain, trying desperately to rip the burning mass from its skin. After only seconds it collapsed to the ground, dead. The attack had not gone unseen. Guided by Kumarat, the slaves recorded the violent display. Eager to make contact with Druuma leadership, they followed the path down into the heart of the cavern.

             
As Eruk lay on the floor, his mind completely given to his unwanted companion, he stared out with unseeing eyes and witnessed the second most important moment in the history of the Enlightened Race. The sickly green glow emanating from the inside of the Druuma Homeworld beckoned him, inviting him further into their world. As the vision continued, the alien creatures rounded a tall pillar of stone into the throne room of the Druuma king, a creature of unimaginable size. The cavern must have stretched for miles in all direction, but each dark corner was plugged off by one of the beas
t’
s many limbs. It was unrecognizable as the progenitor of the parasites, this great and terrible consumer of worlds. The last of its kind, the Druumakan. It turned its many eyes and seem to stare deep into the Cthanul, its voice a tremor inside his chest.

             
Back on his ship, Eruk opened his mouth and began to scream.

-                           
V                            -

              Jerry refused to speak on the long ride home. Watching his boss, his friend, crash and burn on live television had been a sobering experience. It was
n’
t shame he felt. In fact, he hardly felt anything. To say that the interview had been a disaster would be letting them off lightly. Unless they had grossly overestimated their opponent, the election was all but lost. Hell, Alexander might have just cost the Federate its home planet. They rode mostly in silence, rain drumming the roof of the limo.

             
Adeline and Arthur sat on the opposite side of the limousine, arguing animatedly. Arthur insisted that an aggressive media blitz would win back the favor the High Chancellor had so spectacularly lost. Adeline wanted to work on qualifying Alexande
r’
s words, spinning them to a more favorable meaning. The two aides had been at each othe
r’
s throats since leaving the studio.

             
“Yo
u’
re being petty
,”
Adeline said scathingly
.“
The public wo
n’
t respond to more attacks. This will only push his numbers further down
.
”

             
Arthur rolled his eyes
.“
Can they get any lower? This interview is going to be replayed a millions times and on every network. Before the end of the day, the entire galaxy will hear the High Chancellor pardon a war criminal
.
”

             
“Tha
t’
s utterly ridiculous, Arthur. He said nothing of the sort
.
”

             
“No one says a kind word about Norton and gets away with it
,”
Arthur shouted
.“
No one
.
”

             
Adeline shook her head and chewed on her lip
.“
We need to clarify that he was
n’
t excusing the late Emperor. Maybe he was implying that the Red Hammer intends to revive the Empire Americana
.
”

             
Arthur groaned
.“
You cannot be that stupid
.”
He ignored her hurt expression and continued
.“
Public opinion is the only fuel this administration has ever had. We came in with a big boost; the first freely elected head of this new and strange government. And within a year we had already squandered that resource.

             
“People are rooting for us to fail, and this sound-bite is demonstrating that fact. I
t’
s not enough to salvage when there is nothing out there to find. We need to be aggressive, take on our opponents on even ground before they prepare an attack ad that will cost us Earth
.”
He took a second to regain his composure
.“
I know yo
u’
re new at this, Adeline, but are you seriously this clueless
.
”