Sneak Peek - The Last Angel: The Hungry Stars, Chapter 13 (Patreon)

I've been working on this chapter and making good progress (I think). It'll be a bit of a longer one, with a the conversation between Keating, Cassock and the Confederates (such as they are) as well as a discussion between Red One and [REDACTED]

[grumbles about Filth of Icarus not being usable on Spacebattles]

In the meantime, here's an excerpt from the upcoming chapter; Red has just asked if Vegvisir has Lydia and Andrew's remains.

~

Red One spoke again. “I don’t suppose you brought their bodies with you?”

Obed swallowed. “Ah, no. I’m sorry, no. We have the records from our encounter and Private Jameson’s debriefings. Such as they were. We did everything we could, but her condition deteriorated quickly. She was determined, though. She talked with us right up until the end.” He was silent a moment. “Even when she wasn’t lucid, she still thought she was helping.” Obed let out a breath. “We were hoping to bring Try Again with us so that its logs could act as an independent corroboration, but it’s considered a valuable intelligence asset. Fleet Operations didn’t want to risk its loss if the worst should happen on this mission. After this meeting, I’ll have our own records forwarded for your review.”

“I’d appreciate that,” the AI told him.

Cassock raised his head. “May I ask why you’d want the bodies, though?”

“I didn’t know Jackson well,” the AI told him. “But Lydia was my crew. I can’t return her to Rally, but Earth was her homeworld. She deserves to be buried there. I always bring my crew home.” There was the smallest of catches in her voice. Grace noticed Keating and Cassock’s surprise. She did smile this time, a little sadly. At one point, she hadn’t expected that of Red One, either.

“She won’t bury us in space,” she told the men. “She risks going to Earth to bring us back there.” Under the table, she squeezed Allyria’s hand. Vara Tal was a conquered system, its people already under suspicious because of their history with ‘the Wound’. There wouldn’t be any going home for her, either.

Allyria met Grace’s eyes. It was unlikely that either of them would live to a ripe old age. They’d had that discussion with the AI. With you, Allyria had said to her lover. If I can’t go home, then I want to be with you.

“I see,” Keating said. “We have similar customs, though it’s not always possible to return the bodies of our fallen to our home soil. Not,” he added, “that we have had many fallen soldiers. But if I could ask – you said ‘risk’ going to Earth. Can you explain?”

Allyria tilted her head. Keating’s heart rate had increased and there’d been a slight catch in his breath. Red had sensors delicate enough to notice, and Echo’s human form would have caught it as well. “The Compact knows Red One will infrequently return to Earth,” she told the human. “They have listening posts throughout the system with orders to immediately notify the nearest naval base of any unclassified contacts.” That policy had almost killed kavili visarii by providing Execution Force Renan with additional support. “Why?”

Keating and Cassock shared a look. “Vegvisir isn’t the only vessel sent to find Nemesis,” the intelligence officer admitted. “Two other missions were launched based on data from Try Again. Captain Olivia Munn and Lásabrjótur were sent to the Hemlock Nebula – what you call the Molten Veneer. Captain Olaf Miller and Kongō were sent to Earth.” He saw Proctor wince and the alien’s tendrils flexed and shivered.

“Then your people are dead,” Echo told their guests. The Naiad packs in the Veil would have destroyed Lásabrjótur the instant they became aware of it. Even if they recognized its crew of ‘insects’ as human, that wouldn’t have stopped them. The Triquetrans didn’t know any of the codes or signals that had granted Red’s drones and fleet Zenobia’s protection... and even that was no longer a guarantee of safety since the Naiad queen had evicted the AIs. “I hope for Nibiru’s sake that Captain Miller didn’t allow his ship to be captured.” There wouldn’t be enough left of Lásabrjótur to salvage.

“He’s a good officer,” Keating said. He wasn’t prepared to write Olaf off just yet, but Vegvisir had barely survived an encounter with aliens who didn’t know what they were facing. The Compact at Sol would come loaded to face Nemesis.  Kongō couldn’t survive that kind of assault. “He wouldn’t let anything useful be taken.”

“I hope not, captain,” ‘Yasmine’ agreed. “The Compact doesn’t forget a single slight and they never forgive. Surviving  genocide was humanity’s second greatest crime and now, you’re part of that judgment.”