Death Mark Read online

  The Ter’nat’s arm was healed instantly, and he took it out of the sling and swung it around experimentally, then with gratitude evident in his eyes he looked up at the much taller alien’s opaque helmet.

  “Does this mean you are our new Overlords?”

  “The Meintre are, under order of Director Davis. The Ter’nat are no longer part of the V’kit’no’sat empire. You are now part of Star Force, and we’re going to protect you from the death mark Itaru has placed on your race. I need to know how many of you are here and if you know of any other survivors?”

  Ikan didn’t listen to much of what followed. He sat down on the floor and cried tears he forgot he had. He’d always heard of the Humans who founded their own empire in the Rim, but he’d never thought they cared about the Ter’nat…and yet here they were, sending their servants to save them.

  He couldn’t believe this is how it was going to end. An hour ago he had no future, and now…

  Ikan just sat there in disbelieve, feeling as if a mountain of burden had been lifted off him. He was no longer in charge, and he was glad for it. He just wanted to be Ikan again, caring out the orders of people who knew far better than him what needed to be done, and before he knew it he was being transported via hover sled over to the clearing where their ship was as several more were landing and erecting buildings in a matter of minutes, into which the surviving Ter’nat were taken and processed.

  Medical scans, clothing replacement, food trays, automated informational programs, and permanent wristbands with locator beacons so none of them could get lost. It all happened so fast he was just trying to keep up, then he found himself in a soft bunk near the others in his assigned room as he tried to sleep, but he couldn’t. He had too much to process, but one thing was clear. The nightmare was over, as was his time as part of the V’kit’no’sat empire. Now he was part of Star Force, for whatever that meant. He had no idea what tomorrow would bring, nor did any of the others who were whispering to each other as they could also not sleep.

  Ikan laid quietly, looking up at the bottom of the bunk above him and running his fingers over the smooth, alien material. He didn’t know if it was Human material or from the Meintre, whom he’d been able to catch a glimpse of earlier. They were almost as large as a Brat’mar, and the Esquires moved around them much like the Zen’zat did with the V’kit’no’sat, but some had more than two arms and they came in various sizes, so he didn’t know what to make of them except that they must have been the Star Force version of Zen’zat, perhaps coming from multiple races?

  There were so many questions and unknowns his mind wouldn’t stop flipping through it all until the weight of everything he survived and the memories of the people in the city finally caught up with him. The tears came back, and he didn’t run from the memories this time. He faced them, knowing that if he had stayed with the others he too would be dead…and had he brought them with him they never would have survived on the emergency rations he found. They might not even have made it out of the city. He wouldn’t if he hadn’t found that small water puddle in the transit station.

  He couldn’t tolerate what had happened, but he accepted that he had no control over it and that he’d done well to keep himself alive as long as he had. Ikan hadn’t expected rescue, but it had come to him anyway and now he needed to let the past die along with the others, for there was no way for him to save it.

  All he could do was embrace his future, whatever it may be with the Human empire and the few other Ter’nat that had survived here, but what he’d been told earlier stuck with him. That it wasn’t just this Ter’nat colony that was being annexed, but all of them. Hopefully some had fared better than this, perhaps some had not been hit at all. He desperately wanted that to be true.

  Tomorrow would come and he’d tackle it then. Right now, with all the toxic emotions pouring out of him, he finally found a sense of peace…after which his fatigue took hold and he finally fell deep asleep.

  5 months later…

  Mak’to’ran paced back and forth across Garuva’s palace as he studied the incoming reports. Star Force’s Meintre race was moving everywhere, coming off the Hadarak front and out of the Rim, and now he finally knew why. One of his scout ships had had the good sense to confront and ask them what they were doing, which they had answered without resistance.

  They were here to annex the Ter’nat colonies before the Zak’de’ron could kill them all, since the V’kit’no’sat could no longer protect them. And they were also offering sanctuary to any Zen’zat that showed up there requesting it.

  Mak’to’ran didn’t know what to make of this. The idea of them coming in and stealing the Ter’nat was insulting…but primarily because he could not protect them all, yet he was protecting some of them, and even those worlds were being taken by Star Force using stun weaponry or simple logic to get them turned over to them. And in one case reported so far they’d even intervened and fought off a J’gar bombardment fleet to do so, meaning Mak’to’ran had a choice to make.

  The Era’tran needed the Zen’zat. They needed them badly. And with no more Ter’nat colonies there would be no more Zen’zat…unless he let them breed, but that would change everything about the Zen’zat, and he feared it would destroy them just as assuredly as the Zak’de’ron purge would. But he didn’t have the power to tell Star Force no any more than he could stop the enemy from killing them. He could resist and cause a lot of havoc, but if Star Force wanted to devote the ships to it, they could take any world in the V’kit’no’sat empire that they wanted. They could probably even take Itaru without too much of a fight at this point.

  Mak’to’ran needed his infantry, and he was already receiving reports of Zen’zat going missing. They were abandoning their duty stations and leaving in ships that never returned. Now that he knew of their amnesty offer from Star Force he had an inkling at what was happening. The Zen’zat were choosing Star Force over the V’kit’no’sat. One could protect the Ter’nat, the other could not, and though no Era’tran Zen’zat had abandoned their duty stations, it appeared to be happening frequently elsewhere.

  Mak’to’ran cursed the Urrtren for being down. The little information he was getting was from couriers and the segments of the backup comm system the Era’tran had created long ago, but there were gaps in it that had yet to be rebuilt because Mak’to’ran didn’t have the ships to defend them. He was blind to most of what was happening in the galaxy outside the local region, and even that was spotty with the J’gar prowling and poaching his scout ships whenever they could catch one.

  Jamtren was secure now, but badly damaged. Few knew it, and many thought it had fallen. Those that were informed otherwise were beginning to rally around the capitol again, even those that were not Era’tran, but Mak’to’ran’s grasp on them was feeble, and if he let them know who he was he’d only invite a second major invasion, which he couldn’t risk.

  This annexation of the Ter’nat had to be dealt with, but how? He wasn’t sure yet, but he knew he couldn’t do nothing. The Zen’zat were the common bond all V’kit’no’sat races held, and without it they would fracture even further. He didn’t fault Star Force for stepping in to save their genetic predecessors, except when it involved taking worlds from the Era’tran that they had already secured.

  With the Urrtren down he had no means to connect to the Star Force comm network, and he dare not leave Jamtren, not only for safety reasons but because his leadership was the only thing holding the system together.

  He’d have to send a courier to get a message to Star Force and request they send someone here to discuss the matter. But would they come for Garuva? And would they send one of their leaders or an intermediary who couldn’t negotiate anything directly.

  There was no time to play diplomatic games. He had to talk with the trailblazers or Davis directly, and the only way they would respond was if they knew it was him. But how could he tell them he was still alive without risking that knowledge getting back to the Zak’de’ron?


  There were only a few locations he knew Star Force was at, for most of their evacuation fleets were mobile. He’d have to get a message to one of the fixed locations and hope it found its way to Star Force’s leaders without leaks, but first he had to get it there past the J’gar blockades in the neighboring systems trying to isolate knowledge that Jamtren had survived Itaru’s attempt to take it.

  He could send a message out through the Era’tran comm grid then have a ship take it from there, but that was too risky. He had to send one directly, a physical message never to be sent over comms. But that meant running the blockade or taking a riskier jumplane. And he had few ships to spare as it was.

  Nor did the J’gar, and Mak’to’ran had been harassing the blockades for some time, making the enemy keep more ships there than needed in order to divert them away from other targets. He could break through if needed, though it would be costly to both sides.

  But he had to get a message through without revealing his identity. There was no choice other than to wait and see his empire whittled down even more with his inability to secure it slapping him in the face on a daily basis.

  Things could not continue as they were, he knew that, but he also did not know what course to take…but he knew who he had to ask. And it was better to do it now than later. While he still had Zen’zat under his command.

  So he made the decision and walked back to the tactical hologram as he began to plan the blockade break in the most fortuitous position he could to set up a quick run out to one of Star Force’s Fortress systems in Hadarak territory where the J’gar fleets did not patrol…

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