Star Force: Forsaken (Star Force Universe Book 48) Read online

  Three hours later, 18 Wass’mat and over 400 Zen’zat boarded drop pods and made their way up to a stealth-equipped Kaeper that easily made its way between the gaps in the lizard fleet groups that now massed more than 250,000 vessels, not counting their delivery jumpships that were, like Star Force’s, hiding in deep space safely beyond the potential combat.

  Hanniena’s Kaeper took an obscure jumpline to avoid the bottlenecks at the most heavily trafficked ones the lizards were guarding, then she was off through backwater systems enroute to Earth, the closest Star Force outpost and hopefully one with enough ships to help the Wass’mat in time before the lizards overran and exterminated them all.

  3

  March 13, 4917

  Solar System

  Earth

  Paul-024 flew through the air a couple hundred meters above the Gulf of Mexico, traveling from the southern tip of Florida down to Cuba wearing nothing but a T-shirt and shorts. Normally February would have been mild weather in the Gulf, but since the V’kit’no’sat had added atmosphere to the planet and thus increased the greenhouse effect a touch, it was now a warm 98 degrees even in winter. The polar ice caps were gone and the planet was green throughout. Even the Sahara desert was gone now, covered in trees and a few V’kit’no’sat cities that hadn’t been removed yet. And Star Force wasn’t planning on changing Earth back, so warm it would stay, for the next few thousand years at least. The snow lovers would have to go to another planet to get their chill on.

  Right now Paul was on vacation…sort of. Archons never really had vacations, but with the war over and Star Force retooling before heavily moving into the abandoned Nexus territories to salvage what was left, there was a waiting period while war damage was repaired and new ships were built. And that left the trailblazers with little to do.

  6 of them were on Earth now, along with a lot of other Archons and Monarchs as they began recolonization plans for the Devastation Zone. Rebuilding it would take a long, long time but Star Force wasn’t going to delay any more than necessary. Saving those people in need came first, so the majority of the freed up supplies would go to them, but as soon as there was a surplus again…which was a luxury Star Force hadn’t seen in a long time…they were coming here and Earth would be the focal point for the rebuilding.

  But that wasn’t why Paul was here. Even though there was now an Armistice, Star Force wasn’t going to count on the V’kit’no’sat honoring it. He didn’t expect them to break it, but he had a sizeable fleet here anyway just in case, as did the 5 additional trailblazers and the other two that were out patrolling the Devastation Zone on the lookout for V’kit’no’sat ships and squatters trying to claim the dead worlds for their own. Star Force still publically laid claim to them, but now that the war was over there were already small expeditions being sent out from various races and corporations trying to get an unauthorized foothold established.

  Those were minor problems, and right now Paul was just taking the time to relax and get back into a normal training rhythm. That meant long sessions that passed 30 hours and shorter, more intense workouts that needed to be done in sequence…something that had always been getting interrupted for missions.

  At the moment Paul was on a rest period and had been doing some sensory enhancement training in Florida along with a few second gen Archons. He was scheduled to get back into mech training exercises tomorrow and had decided to fly on his own back to Cuba, for the island was one of the few places on the planet that was nearly back to Star Force norms.

  The V’kit’no’sat structures were gone and Star Force ones were either already built or under construction, with an army of Kiritak swarming around with their Human counterparts to get the advanced training facilities that Earth had once sported rebuilt and tailored to the now far more extensive capabilities of the Archons and other elite personnel. The civilian population could wait, and there were none on Earth now, nor would be in the near future. They could stay where they were at the moment while Earth got the key infrastructure rebuilt using resources that had previously gone to planetary defenses and critical industry.

  That said, Earth still needed more of both. Its planetary shields were decent and globe-spanning, but Paul and the others were going to strengthen them at least 20 times what they were now. Same went for the anti-orbital guns, which were going to be upgraded to Tar’vem’jic being produced in the secret Preema territory colony Star Force had. Now that the war was over the agreement with the somewhat friendly race had not ended. In fact it had been expanded greatly and the construction of new Grid Points was being rushed…as much as one could rush such huge constructs.

  The plan was to extend a single line out from the network in The Nexus that already existed. A road that, in the extremely far future, would stretch all the way around the Rim that Star Force now had dominion over, at least as far as the V’kit’no’sat were concerned. It would connect the worlds that Star Force was inheriting from their former enemy, then have the ability to branch off further rimward to various locations.

  It was so ambitious and costly that Paul was surprised the Preema had agreed to it, but they stood to gain immensely from the trade that would result. Star Force was going to build a highway around the galaxy, and the Preema were going to be suppling most of the raw materials for the section in their local region. They’d be hooked in to the current network first, but that wasn’t going to happen for centuries. There were so many links in the chain required, and two constructs at each location minimum, but already there were four constructs partially constructed inside Preema territory and more would follow.

  Star Force wouldn’t be providing the raw materials in the near future. That was also part of the deal. They had so much to do, including rebuilding the Devastation Zone, that the initial resource payments would be supplied by the Preema, but once the new colonies got their foothold and started exporting, Star Force would begin to add to the officially titled ‘Hula Hoop.’

  But that was a distant project that Star Force was wisely beginning now. For Paul, he had more immediate concerns to worry about, but nothing major now that the war was over. One of the other reasons he was here on Earth was the lizards. When the V’kit’no’sat destroyed them Star Force was going to try and intercept as many evacuation ships as they could so that they couldn’t run away and rebuild somewhere else in the galaxy. The odds of getting them all were slim, but they were going to try and finish what they’d started so long ago.

  However, the dramatic increase in the lizards’ technology concerned him. There was no way they could have advanced that far on their own. Even if they had recovered bits and pieces of V’kit’no’sat technology they could not have unlocked the secrets so fast. Star Force had had not only the technology, but the database that explained it, and it had taken them forever to master it. No, the lizards had another race feeding them technology just as the Trinx had, so the sooner they were taken out the better.

  Paul wondered how the Templars would respond when the fighting across V’kit’no’sat territory suddenly stopped and they were left alone fighting the V’kit’no’sat. They’d made such a colossal miscalculation is was almost funny, though the thought of so much death took the levity out of it, leaving the cold irony of the situation.

  Star Force would do their part to stop the lizards fleeing rimward, but he was glad the V’kit’no’sat were going to be the ones to destroy them. It was long past time their blood thirsty fleets were put to a proper use.

  Paul was flying quickly, but not so much that it was exhausting, though he had to use his bioshields to block the wind from his face. One disadvantage of having a slightly thicker atmosphere was more air molecules to push when flying, though the birds liked it. It increased the efficiency of their wings in producing lift, but even they had more wind resistance to fight when moving.

  Below him now was nothing but water, but on the horizon ahead he could see a sliver of land and the needle-like buildings reaching up into the sky from it. The sun was near
to setting in the west, but even at night it wouldn’t get cold here. He hadn’t worn his armor on purpose, nor even took a commlink. His telepathy had range, but not enough to contact anyone out here. He was, for the first time in forever, completely alone and vulnerable.

  And it was refreshing. Paul was essentially superhuman now, but all his combat occurred behind walls of metal and machines. It had been longer than he could remember when he’d been in a non-training fight without his armor or a warship, and feeling the limited air on his body as he flew, sensing the deep water below that could easily kill him if he fell and drowned, or was eaten by a shark or davril, made him feel more alive than he had been in a long time.

  He’d gotten so numb to the fighting and the routine of it that he was only now returning to his norm…but his norm was also constantly around people. It had been so long since he’d been out in the raw wilds on his own that he was savoring every moment of this flight and almost wanted to turn to the east and keep going.

  The trailblazer had the strength to, but what would be the point? He was traveling to a destination and taking the long way, but it was still a mission…

  Paul stopped flying suddenly, coming to a stop and hovering in the air as he let his bioshields down and felt the natural breeze on his skin looking out at the setting sun and the island of Cuba in the distance.

  “Damn. I really do need a vacation. I’ve been so focused on holding out forever I forgot how to breathe.”

  He took a moment longer to let the situation sink in, then realized what he needed to do.

  He needed to go AWOL for a while. Completely out of contact and off the grid. Most of Earth was still barren right now. Vast tracks of forest that even the V’kit’no’sat had not gotten around to colonizing, and it would take centuries for the Star Force cities to return…though this time they were going to keep some of the forests. There wasn’t an overpopulation problem here anymore, so they weren’t going to pack things in so close. There’d be more of a balance that would allow Earth to escape the claustrophobic feel of heavily urbanized worlds, and while it was going to return to being the functional capitol of the empire, it would also be more of a trophy world. A luxury for those allowed to come and live here, much like many of the V’kit’no’sat capitols were.

  But right now it was still very raw, and Paul felt an intense need to disappear into it for a while…and if he felt like that, he guessed there were a few other people on the planet that might need the vacation as well.

  So he accelerated again, this time faster than before, and headed like a bullet for Cuba, excited more than he’d expected to be, as he went to hunt for the other trailblazers and organize a jailbreak from their responsibilities for a while. There was nothing the second gen and others couldn’t handle now that the war was over, and the only way to truly go on vacation was for no one to know where you were going…or even know that you were gone.

  Two days later…

  Morgan-063 flew at the head of the 6 trailblazer wedge only a few meters above the treetops. They could have gone higher for a better view, but that wasn’t as much fun as skimming and having to adjust elevation with the terrain. Indiana wasn’t that hilly, especially the central part, but not all the trees were the same height either. There was another abandoned V’kit’no’sat city far to the west and visible as it glinted off the sunlight, but the trailblazers were staying clear of it and any other signs of civilization as they continued their northward trek from Cuba, having covered a lot of ground yesterday and today, and Morgan was waiting for Paul to tell her when they got to the right location.

  That occurred 7 minutes later with him telepathically pinging the exact location next to a river, and as one the Archons slowed down their fast flight and hovered in the air over the spot, seeing nothing but trees, trees, and more trees aside from the sliver of water running through them.

  “This is it?” Oni-081 asked, floating to Paul’s right.

  “Yeah. My house used to be at the base of that hill, right where the water runs now. It must have cut into it over the years.”

  “How can you be sure?” Jason-025 asked.

  “This spot was burned into my mind long ago, and we never altered the river’s course. It’s the same as it was back when I was born.”

  “Did the V’kit’no’sat rip out the house or did we?” Logan-036 asked.

  “It was removed a long time ago after Star Force took control of the United States, but the V’kit’no’sat ripped out whatever was here. I wonder what they did with all the rubble?”

  “Recycled it, probably,” Morgan commented as they continued to hang in the air, wearing casual clothing and nothing even resembling a uniform, though they all wore small backpacks that looked similar to the book bags Paul had used when he was in high school and the others were at similar juvenile facilities in other countries. “You see a good spot?”

  Paul reached out with his Pefbar as far as he could, then pointed down and to the right. “There, but I want a better look first,” he said, flying straight up with the others following after a slight delay. They flew up well over a mile before finding the air thin a bit uncomfortably and get chilly. There they held position, looking out over the trees that now blurred into a green mass beneath them with the river barely visible.

  Everywhere they looked it appeared to be a flat forest carpet that reached out until a break occurred where a V’kit’no’sat colony had been. Two were visible from this height, with the second being extremely far away but large enough to show up to the enhanced Archon eyes. Other than those two blemishes, it appeared that Earth was uninhabited and completely raw…which is exactly the experience he’d been going for.

  “How many are we going to cut down?” Oni asked.

  “A lot,” Paul admitted. “But Earth is home and it shouldn’t be wild once we get fully moved back in.”

  “But there is an appeal to this.”

  “Agreed…until you reach out and feel the critters eating each other.”

  “I’m still surprised so many survived,” Jason added.

  “It’s a big planet,” Morgan explained. “And the V’kit’no’sat didn’t bombard all of it like the others.”

  “They added some too,” Rafa-080 pointed out. “Especially in the oceans, but there are a few primitive races here that I know weren’t originally on Earth.”

  “We brought a few back from other worlds,” Paul said, looking down below his hanging feet as his legs and the rest of his body where Yen’mer particles were located held firmly against the pull of the planet’s gravity. “Everything changes, yet in some way things stay the same. Earth is still home, and this is where I began.”

  “Is it?” Oni asked. “The people are gone, the civilization is gone, and this isn’t the same spot in space the Earth was back then.”

  “Fair point, but there’s enough to proc memories.”

  “And the feelings of separation?”

  Paul glanced at her. “You too?”

  “The future doesn’t wait for the past, it’s always moving forward. We surf that wave. The wave is our home, not where it crosses. Do you truly feel at home here, or just nostalgic?”

  “A little of both. I was born here, within a few miles anyway, and I still don’t know where I came from. This is my first known point, before that lies the mystery. The first point is significant because it’s a glaring reminder we still don’t know what the hell is going on in the universe.”

  “We’re here now. We don’t need to know the past. We live in the present, not the past nor the future,” Oni lectured. “But I am curious as well. I sometimes wonder what the V’kit’no’sat think after living a million years.”

  “They kill a lot,” Jason offered. “I don’t think that’s driven by enlightenment or nostalgia.”

  “They are embracing a part of the chaos,” Rafa explained. “The universe puts us here without instructions or purpose. We just have a little genetic memory and we’re set loose, often in horrific circumsta
nces that we can’t survive. The carnage that ensues is everywhere, and some people choose to embrace it rather than rise above it. The V’kit’no’sat are a mixed bag. Let’s make sure Star Force never devolves to that level.”

  “The more people we bring into the fold, the harder it will be,” Logan agreed. “Thankfully we’re not lazy and a like a challenge.”

  “It is maddening,” Morgan added. “If you really try and get a feel for it. We normally numb up and do the best we can, but right now, when we have no responsibilities…if you open your mind up it threatens to drive you insane. So much chaos. So much pain and suffering. Loneliness. Confusion. Despair. It’s like the universe is either tormenting us intentionally or just forgot about us entirely.”

  “And we have to clean up the mess as best we can,” Jason added. “Not that we can ever win without knowing the objective.”

  “That also threatens to drive you insane.”

  “Death,” Paul said, quoting an old story, “would be a great adventure.”

  “I think I’ll hang around here a bit longer,” Morgan answered. “There’s plenty to explore here.”

  “Agreed,” Rafa said as a shadow crossed over them. He looked up, seeing the dark blot of a massive cargo ship in orbit as it briefly occupied the glowing spot in the sky. A few seconds later the sunlight returned, but it was a reminder that Earth was not, in fact, raw wilderness.

  “Let’s get down before anyone comes looking for autographs,” Logan said, starting to descend slowly from their aerial viewpoint.

  “Ditto,” Jason agreed as the others followed, except Paul. “You coming?”

  “Just give me a couple minutes and I’ll join you.”

  “It’s your birthplace, not mine. Take as long as you want,” the fellow 2 said, dropping down and leaving the sky solely to Paul.

  He floated there for a while, just soaking in the environment and trying not to think. He was so wound up after years of combat, training, and trying to solve the galaxy’s problems that not thinking was hard. It took a conscious effort to slow down and relax, and it was something that all of them had made considerable progress on the past two days, but they still had a way to go to fully defrag…and they wouldn’t know how much was left until they got through it, for it operated like a fog on the mind that you couldn’t see more than 3 inches through.