Read Online Shadows of the Gods: Crimson Worlds Refugees II by Jay Allan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jay Allan
Tags: Science-Fiction, Space Opera, Military, Science Fiction & Fantasy, first contact, Galactic Empire, Space Marine
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weaker officers in the fleet—and he knew he couldn’t, not without risking serious unrest in some of the national contingents—then, by God, he would drive them until they dropped on their own…or until they improved.
But now his mind was on something else, something he’d been thinking about for a while now. His paranoia had been growing, the constant feeling that he had to consider his every move, rethink everything a dozen times. He could elude the fleet’s pursuers twenty times, but if he slipped on the twenty-first, his people would all die.
He’d tried to relax, play cards with some of the officers, spend time with Sophie. He realized he needed to keep himself from going insane, that no man could endure the constant unrelenting stress without some kind of solace. But he also knew he had to come damned close…and not make that tragic mistake. Not on the twenty-first time…nor the hundred twenty-first.
Whatever it takes .
* * *
“This debris is fascinating. These materials are far beyond anything we have. This stuff has been here for half a million years, through summers and winters, storms and floods. Yet some of it looks almost new.” Hieronymus Cutter was standing in front of a portable table, poking through a pile of artifacts the exploration teams had found. Sophie Barcomme had selected the landing site because of its topography and the spectrographic analysis of the soil…but by sheer coincidence, she’d chosen a chunk of ground that had also been an ancient battlefield.
It had been less than three days since Preston had given Cutter the OK to start exploring in the immediate area of the camp…and the scientist had put that time to good use. He had half a dozen excavation machines running around the clock, and his people had uncovered hundreds of bits and pieces of First Imperium equipment.
“A lot of it is familiar, military equipment we’ve seen before…or at least parts of it.” Ana was on the opposite side of the table, digging through the same pile. “But not all of it.” She held up a chunk of some kind of mysterious metal. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Or this,” Cutter said in response, holding up a similar shard of another strange black metal. “A lot of this consists of bits and pieces of the usual types of battle robots and supporting equipment…stuff we’ve seen before on the other worlds, even on the battlefields back home.” He paused, pulling out another artifact and staring at it. “But some of it is different…different than anything we’ve seen before.”
“Could the First Imperium have fought an enemy here we haven’t discovered yet? Why else would all these new items be mixed with a familiar-looking array of battle bot debris?”
“That’s a big jump, Ana.” Cutter didn’t sound like he doubted her hypothesis…more like he was trying to slam on the brakes before they both jumped to wild conclusions. “Perhaps we simply haven’t encountered everything they have. The Colossuses were certainly a surprise in X2.”
The enemy had thrown massive fleets into human space, and hundreds of ships had fought in the battles along the Line. But through all those terrible fights the First Imperium had never sent its largest, most powerful vessels into the maelstrom. Not until Admirals Garret and Compton had pushed into enemy space. Not until X2.
“I don’t know, Ronnie.” Zhukov’s insistence on calling him ‘Ronnie’ had driven him crazy for months, but she’d long ago worn down his resistance. Now it seemed normal, and if she stopped he actually thought he would miss it. “Everything you say is correct, but there’s something…different…about this stuff. I don’t have any specifics…it’s as much a feeling as anything else. But I don’t think these are just chunks of normal battle robots.” She held another piece of the mysterious metal in each hand as she spoke.
Cutter felt his head moving, an almost
But now his mind was on something else, something he’d been thinking about for a while now. His paranoia had been growing, the constant feeling that he had to consider his every move, rethink everything a dozen times. He could elude the fleet’s pursuers twenty times, but if he slipped on the twenty-first, his people would all die.
He’d tried to relax, play cards with some of the officers, spend time with Sophie. He realized he needed to keep himself from going insane, that no man could endure the constant unrelenting stress without some kind of solace. But he also knew he had to come damned close…and not make that tragic mistake. Not on the twenty-first time…nor the hundred twenty-first.
Whatever it takes .
* * *
“This debris is fascinating. These materials are far beyond anything we have. This stuff has been here for half a million years, through summers and winters, storms and floods. Yet some of it looks almost new.” Hieronymus Cutter was standing in front of a portable table, poking through a pile of artifacts the exploration teams had found. Sophie Barcomme had selected the landing site because of its topography and the spectrographic analysis of the soil…but by sheer coincidence, she’d chosen a chunk of ground that had also been an ancient battlefield.
It had been less than three days since Preston had given Cutter the OK to start exploring in the immediate area of the camp…and the scientist had put that time to good use. He had half a dozen excavation machines running around the clock, and his people had uncovered hundreds of bits and pieces of First Imperium equipment.
“A lot of it is familiar, military equipment we’ve seen before…or at least parts of it.” Ana was on the opposite side of the table, digging through the same pile. “But not all of it.” She held up a chunk of some kind of mysterious metal. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Or this,” Cutter said in response, holding up a similar shard of another strange black metal. “A lot of this consists of bits and pieces of the usual types of battle robots and supporting equipment…stuff we’ve seen before on the other worlds, even on the battlefields back home.” He paused, pulling out another artifact and staring at it. “But some of it is different…different than anything we’ve seen before.”
“Could the First Imperium have fought an enemy here we haven’t discovered yet? Why else would all these new items be mixed with a familiar-looking array of battle bot debris?”
“That’s a big jump, Ana.” Cutter didn’t sound like he doubted her hypothesis…more like he was trying to slam on the brakes before they both jumped to wild conclusions. “Perhaps we simply haven’t encountered everything they have. The Colossuses were certainly a surprise in X2.”
The enemy had thrown massive fleets into human space, and hundreds of ships had fought in the battles along the Line. But through all those terrible fights the First Imperium had never sent its largest, most powerful vessels into the maelstrom. Not until Admirals Garret and Compton had pushed into enemy space. Not until X2.
“I don’t know, Ronnie.” Zhukov’s insistence on calling him ‘Ronnie’ had driven him crazy for months, but she’d long ago worn down his resistance. Now it seemed normal, and if she stopped he actually thought he would miss it. “Everything you say is correct, but there’s something…different…about this stuff. I don’t have any specifics…it’s as much a feeling as anything else. But I don’t think these are just chunks of normal battle robots.” She held another piece of the mysterious metal in each hand as she spoke.
Cutter felt his head moving, an almost
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