said you would not allow us further integration until that turnover was complete.”
“That’s for the Collaborative Government, Heroc. And the CG still won’t accept you. But as I said, this is regarding our federation. I trust you. Me, personally. Otherwise I wouldn’t be letting you take my son to another planet. Again. You have proven your honor to me many times over, Heroc. And not just you, but your people. Even the people who handle the turnover of the planets have complimented your species’ professionalism. I want to reward that.”
“I don’t know what to say, Cortland.”
“Don’t say anything. Just talk to H’uum about it.”
Kim looked at Cort with something like awe in her eyes. “Gods but you still manage to surprise me, Cortland Addison.”
Heroc clicked an unintelligible noise and said, “Does this mean I have to listen to you two mating again tonight?”
Four
Unknown Planet
“Sir, our opportunity has arrived. The human child is on a secondary planet ceded to the H’uumans.”
“Excellent. You have reviewed the assets? They are all ready, Che?” Miku asked.
“Yes, sir. My last update from the Nill homeworld was less than one sun ago. Our synthetic is in place.”
“Execute the plan then. Well done, Che. Ten thousand years of planning will finally offer us reward.”
H’uum Homeworld
Heroc slept uneasily. She couldn’t explain her trepidation, but she checked on Dalek anyway. As she entered his room, Dalek’s wolf, Zandra, stood and growled. The wolf did not calm until Heroc spoke to it. Then it emitted a low whine, as if to express her own uneasiness to Heroc.
“You feel it too, don’t you, friend?” Heroc asked. She picked Dalek up from his bed and began dressing him in his FALCON. At the same time, she commed Cort.
C-742
Cort was just surfacing from a deep dive when Kim waved him over from the shore of the pool where they were swimming. “It’s Heroc. She can’t explain it, but feels something is wrong.”
While Kim talked to the queen, Cort commed Lex and ordered him to send a company of Marines to the H’uum planet to extract Dalek. Then he tried to contact the forward operating base on 742 to order transport.
“The FOB is not responding. Get dressed.”
Nill
The synthetic creature that had spent eons slowly boring through the mantle of the Nill homeworld was finally ready. It was in the Transition Core. It had made the connections to the particle strings and was now bound to the Core’s accelerators. It had finally received the command.
AFS Beretta
Captain Will Ross turned to his second and asked, “Are we ready, Tay?”
“Yes, sir. The Marines are on board. We have one wolfpack platoon, and the rest of the company is drop troops. Their captain is on his way to the bridge now.”
Ross said, “Let’s go get our boy.”
H’uum Homeworld
Heroc listened as dozens of H’uumans fought the invaders. On Cort’s orders, she was barricaded in the Supreme’s quarters, with Dalek and Zandra at her side, while her fellows defended the child of the man who had conquered their people. Dalek listened to his mother’s calming voice through the comm while Cort listened in through his.
Outside, thousands of corpses littered the road leading to the Supreme’s compound. Most were H’uumans, but many were six-legged mammals, armed with weapons that slaughtered the insectoids.
C-742
Cort and Kim raced across the beach as they listened to a battle rage light years away. Before Cort could get to his uniform, a large group of dark-haired primate looking creatures dropped from the nearby trees to surround him and Kim. Carefully, Cort used his peripheral vision to find his weapons. A few meters to his left, he could see the hilt of his sword peeking at him between the spindly legs of one of the aliens. He turned to face the ape-like being he believed to be the leader and said, “You are on my planet.”
“No, Addison. We are on my planet. Your choice is whether
“That’s for the Collaborative Government, Heroc. And the CG still won’t accept you. But as I said, this is regarding our federation. I trust you. Me, personally. Otherwise I wouldn’t be letting you take my son to another planet. Again. You have proven your honor to me many times over, Heroc. And not just you, but your people. Even the people who handle the turnover of the planets have complimented your species’ professionalism. I want to reward that.”
“I don’t know what to say, Cortland.”
“Don’t say anything. Just talk to H’uum about it.”
Kim looked at Cort with something like awe in her eyes. “Gods but you still manage to surprise me, Cortland Addison.”
Heroc clicked an unintelligible noise and said, “Does this mean I have to listen to you two mating again tonight?”
Four
Unknown Planet
“Sir, our opportunity has arrived. The human child is on a secondary planet ceded to the H’uumans.”
“Excellent. You have reviewed the assets? They are all ready, Che?” Miku asked.
“Yes, sir. My last update from the Nill homeworld was less than one sun ago. Our synthetic is in place.”
“Execute the plan then. Well done, Che. Ten thousand years of planning will finally offer us reward.”
H’uum Homeworld
Heroc slept uneasily. She couldn’t explain her trepidation, but she checked on Dalek anyway. As she entered his room, Dalek’s wolf, Zandra, stood and growled. The wolf did not calm until Heroc spoke to it. Then it emitted a low whine, as if to express her own uneasiness to Heroc.
“You feel it too, don’t you, friend?” Heroc asked. She picked Dalek up from his bed and began dressing him in his FALCON. At the same time, she commed Cort.
C-742
Cort was just surfacing from a deep dive when Kim waved him over from the shore of the pool where they were swimming. “It’s Heroc. She can’t explain it, but feels something is wrong.”
While Kim talked to the queen, Cort commed Lex and ordered him to send a company of Marines to the H’uum planet to extract Dalek. Then he tried to contact the forward operating base on 742 to order transport.
“The FOB is not responding. Get dressed.”
Nill
The synthetic creature that had spent eons slowly boring through the mantle of the Nill homeworld was finally ready. It was in the Transition Core. It had made the connections to the particle strings and was now bound to the Core’s accelerators. It had finally received the command.
AFS Beretta
Captain Will Ross turned to his second and asked, “Are we ready, Tay?”
“Yes, sir. The Marines are on board. We have one wolfpack platoon, and the rest of the company is drop troops. Their captain is on his way to the bridge now.”
Ross said, “Let’s go get our boy.”
H’uum Homeworld
Heroc listened as dozens of H’uumans fought the invaders. On Cort’s orders, she was barricaded in the Supreme’s quarters, with Dalek and Zandra at her side, while her fellows defended the child of the man who had conquered their people. Dalek listened to his mother’s calming voice through the comm while Cort listened in through his.
Outside, thousands of corpses littered the road leading to the Supreme’s compound. Most were H’uumans, but many were six-legged mammals, armed with weapons that slaughtered the insectoids.
C-742
Cort and Kim raced across the beach as they listened to a battle rage light years away. Before Cort could get to his uniform, a large group of dark-haired primate looking creatures dropped from the nearby trees to surround him and Kim. Carefully, Cort used his peripheral vision to find his weapons. A few meters to his left, he could see the hilt of his sword peeking at him between the spindly legs of one of the aliens. He turned to face the ape-like being he believed to be the leader and said, “You are on my planet.”
“No, Addison. We are on my planet. Your choice is whether
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