"Look!" said Louis and pointed outside. The Stranger cruiser exited from the sun--in a hurry it seemed. The cruiser came to halt and turned its bow toward the star just as the first flare erupted from the surface.
"They know something's wrong," Louis observed the obvious. More flares erupted, all around the star, and the magnitude of the flares increased by the second.
"Any activity from the Kaitian home world?" asked Nick.
"Not yet," said Aileen. "They won't know it yet. It will take five minutes before they see what's happening in the star. And more before the solar winds hit them. But they will know soon enough."
"What the hell is that!?" shouted Nick.
Something emerged from the star, accompanied by flares. It was a huge black structure, clearly Stranger in origin, and many times larger than the Stranger super-cruiser.
"Must be their base," said Louis. "Or something like that. But look at the size of that thing! It's burning." A massive flare erupted right behind the structure and engulfed it. After the flare burnt out, the structure was literally melting.
"Nothing but black mass," said Nick looking at the structure, which looked to be entirely solid. "How can it be just black solid mass?"
Neither Louis nor Aileen had an answer for that, so they said nothing.
"I'm picking up increased activity in the Kaitian home world," said Aileen.
"You're too subtle," grunted Louis. "They are panicking."
Nick looked at the Stranger cruiser; it didn't do anything, just stood still, watching the dying star. Nick suspected that they were not even aware of the Kaitians or their panic in the planet.
"We should start moving away from the star," said Aileen. "It will go nova soon."
"Make it so," said Nick.
"The Kaitians are launching ships," said Louis. "They are evacuating."
Nick made a laughing noise, void of humor. There were over twenty billion Kaitians on the planet--with luck, few of them might survive.
"The final stage starts," said Aileen. Huge flares engulfed the star.
"It's getting bigger," said Louis as the star began inflating.
The men could almost hear the panic from the Kaitian home world. The Kaitians saw what was happening, but they couldn't do anything about it and they couldn't know why it was happening. Perhaps they blamed the Strangers, but Nick and Louis would never know.
"It will become nova now," said Aileen in flat voice and the Kaitian star exploded.
***
The Stranger cruiser showed no signs of moving as the shockwave of the nova came toward it until second before it hit; the cruiser disappeared to hyperspace and left a black flash behind.
The shockwave destroyed the innermost planet and would hit the Kaitian home world soon.
Nick tried to imagine how it would feel to see the home star explode and then see the coming shockwave. He shook his head and hoped that he would never have to be in that situation.
Louis also imagined being on the Kaitian home world right now. He cried invisible tears and knew that if he had a soul, it was doomed beyond redemption.
Aileen accelerated the corvette to be slightly faster than the shockwave so they could monitor it as it happened. They went past the Kaitian home world with the shockwave in their wake.
"It hits them now," said Nick quietly, and so the Kaitian home world was destroyed.
Twenty billion Kaitians, all other living beings, and the entire planet died in an instant, and not even memories remained behind.
38
William was in his office, watching the map of the galaxy--as he'd done a lot lately. He was watching the movement of remaining Coalition ships and the unstoppable progress of the Kaitian forces.
They had known the strength of the Kaitians, but still underestimated them. The Behemoths had been destroyed and so had their AI-controlled fighters. The genetic weapons had been effective, but they didn't have enough of them. The Kaitian ships forced the Coalition to retreat battle after battle.
Bruce was the only one who'd had a major victory since the fall of the Miccvan home world, and he was disrupting Kaitian supply operations on the Miccvan home world admirably.
But it didn't really matter against the Kaitians.
William started to become desperate in the face of total destruction. Not only destruction--extinction. The Kaitians would not accept their surrender and they would kill their enemies without remorse.
His only hope was that Nick and Louis would accomplish their mission to destroy the Kaitian home world.
William was surprised that he could think so casually about destroying an entire star system. He shook the surprise away; it was too late to have any second thoughts, anyway.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as reports came in about a skirmish in one of the Miccvan colonies, near the Mopian border. Milton was there, and he too was getting desperate. His forces had sustained heavy damage but they'd fought bravely, delaying the inevitable.
William sighed and walked away from the map to the cafeteria to get something to drink.
***
"And that one." William pointed to a delicious-looking chocolate cake.
"Of course, Commander." The waitress behind the desk smiled and gave a coffee and the chocolate cake to William.
William smiled back and he felt good, almost as if his spirits were lifted by the waitress's smile. He smiled all the way to his regular table at the cafeteria and was in no hurry to finish the coffee or the cake.
He stared at the emptiness of space, thinking nothing. When he'd finished the coffee he went back to the office, and smiled to the waitress on his way.
"Commander," said the computer when he entered his office, "I have news."
"What is it?" asked William.
"Several reports came in while you were having coffee," said the computer. "The Kaitians have abruptly stopped fighting and left the battlefield. No one knows where or why."
William took a deep breath. It could mean only one thing: Nick and Louis had accomplished their mission.
"But we know," he said.
"Yes, Commander," said the computer.
"Let's keep it that way," said William. "No one must know."
"Message coming from Milton, Commander," said the computer.
"Put him through," he said and an image of a surprised Milton appeared on the wall.
"William," he said. "The Kaitians are pulling back."
"I know," said William. "I've just received several reports. It seems to be happening everywhere."
"But why?" asked Milton. "Is this a trap?"
"It might be," said William thoughtfully.
"Commander," interrupted the computer. "Grand Admiral Z'eenkoo is on the line."
"Put him through," said William, surprised to hear from Mr. Grey--but he knew why Mr. Grey was calling.
"Admiral," said Milton. "I assume you know about the Kaitians."
"Yes," said Mr. Grey. "Do you know why?"
"No," said William.
"I've already sent ships to follow them," said Mr. Grey. "It looks like they are falling back everywhere."
"I don't understand," said William, hoping to sound genuinely perplexed.
"I'll follow them, too," said Milton. "I'll call a conference when I know more."
Milton disconnected and so did Mr. Grey, without a word.
"Contact Bruce," said Milton to the computer. "Verify that Kaitians have left the Miccvan home world and order him to follow them."
"Yes, Commander," said the computer.
39
"Acknowledge the message," said Bruce. "Tell them that the Kaitians left from here as well, and we follow them."
"Yes, Admiral," said Marya.
She had been very surprised to see the Kaitians leave so fast. The Miccvans' reports from the surface said that Kaitians had literally left in the middle of their meals.
"I wonder what happened," said Marya.
"It must be something big," said Bruce. "My g
uess it's something related to the Strangers. Let's go and find out.”
"Yes, sir," said Marya, and their ship accelerated to follow the Kaitians.
***
"They are in a hurry," said Bruce. "We’re having trouble keeping up with them."
"They are headed toward Kaitian space," said Marya.
"The home world?" asked Bruce.
"Perhaps," said Marya. "Too early to determine."
Bruce knew about the Stranger base in the Kaitian home star; if the Strangers were involved, it was a logical guess that they were headed there.
"Assume that it's where they're headed," said Bruce. "Can we take a shortcut to get there?"
"No, sir," said Marya after consulting the computer. "We are already on the most direct route to their home world."
"So," said Bruce confidently, "that's where they're headed, then. Send a message to Command that the Kaitians are most likely going to their home world. We can slow down now. Let's not push our luck. They might get too interested in us before we reach their home world."
"Yes, sir," said Marya.
***
"Sir," said Marya, as the ship approached the Kaitian home world. "Strange readings from the Kaitian home world."
"How strange?" asked Bruce.
"Well," said Marya. "It looks like that their star has gone nova."
"Nova?" said Bruce, not quite believing. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir," she said, not quite believing herself. "Positive."
Bruce said nothing, but he knew that the nova must've been William's doing. The thought gave him the shivers, thinking the magnitude of what he'd done.
"Do we have any data on the star?" he asked. "The Kaitians must've known that the star would go nova."
"I already checked, sir," said Marya. "Our data didn't have any indications. But our scans may have been too superficial to make any conclusions."
Bruce said nothing, but waited Marya to make any speculations.
"Sir," said Marya after a short silence. "I find it hard to believe that the Kaitians didn't know that the star would go nova. And yet they apparently didn't do anything to leave the planet. I don't buy it."
"Buy what?" asked Bruce, trying to sound that he had no idea what she was thinking about.
"That the star would go nova and the Kaitians wouldn't do anything," said Marya. "They can't be that crazy."Marya looked at Bruce, perhaps waiting for him to say what she thought, but Bruce remained silent. He tried to look casual, reading the report of the Kaitian star.
"I think someone caused this," said Marya quietly, doubting her own words.
"What do you mean?" asked Bruce innocently.
"I mean what I said," she said, building confidence as she spoke. "I think someone caused this. Someone, or something, destroyed the star. And the Kaitian home world with it."
"I don't think . . ." started Bruce and hesitated, hoping it'd look like he thought about what Marya said.
"But that's unbelievable. Who could do it?"
"The Strangers, sir," said Marya. "As you suspected."
"True, I said that," he said. "And I believe they could do it. But why?"
"I don't think we'll ever find out why," said Marya.
Bruce nodded in agreement. They knew nothing of the Strangers, and their motives were next to impossible to know.
"What of the Kaitians? Their fleet? What are they doing?" asked Bruce.
They were already close enough for long-range scanners to see what was happening.
"The ships are standing still," said Marya. "There's frantic communication, mostly on open channels."
"What are they saying?" asked Bruce
"They wonder what happened," said Marya. "They cry for their gods and why they abandoned them."
"Gods?" asked Bruce surprised. "What gods?"
"Black Gods, they say," said Marya.
"Ah," he said. "The Strangers, of course. They must think them as gods."
"How can you be so sure?" asked Marya.
"I guess you didn't know that one of the Strangers bases is, or was, within their star?" asked Bruce, and she shook her head.
"And we also know that this star system is relatively near the location where we think the Strangers entered our galaxy."
"This all new for me," said Marya, almost accusingly.
"I know, Marya," said Bruce. "And I apologize."
Marya was surprised to hear him apologize. But she was not surprised to find out that he knew much more about the Strangers than he'd said. It was in line with what she'd heard of the admiral--strange rumors, told only after one drink too many. No one believed the rumors, of course, but during her service with him, she had started to believe the unbelievable.
That he was an immortal. Almost like a god himself.
"Sir," said Marya and Bruce knew what she was about to say. "If they cry for their Black Gods, then the Strangers may not have been behind the nova?"
"That's what I was thinking, too," said Bruce.
"Who then?" asked Marya.
"Not many options, are there?" asked Bruce.
"No, it must be someone in the Coalition," said Marya. "But who? We have no such technology. Arash, Mopian, and Mehar are gone. I doubt that Saami or Ooktian would have such technology. Miccvan or Rg'Tkeen, then. Perhaps the Rg'Tkeen? I've always thought of them secretive."
Bruce nodded, glad that she'd ruled humans out already, and said with full confidence, "You may be correct. Send a message to Command. Tel them what we see, but do not tell them of our suspicions. I have a feeling that we can wait here," he added, smiling.
"How so?" asked Marya.
"We will take advantage of their situation," said Bruce, eyes on fire. "And we're going to wipe them out."
40
"You've all heard what happened," said Milton, opening the conference with the Coalition Command.
"It is unbelievable," said Laura. "We must find out what happened, and whether the nova was natural or artificial."
There was uneasy silence on the call. William feared the consequences of what he'd done, if any one ever found out about it.
"I agree," said Milton.
"I think we all agree," said Mr. Grey somewhat anxiously. "But not now. We must deal with the Kaitians. This is too good an opportunity to miss."
"Sounds like you have a suggestion," said William.
"Correct." Mr. Grey nodded. "We have confirmed that all the Kaitians have left the Coalition space and gone back to their own space. They are scrambling to defend their colonies as we speak, I'm certain that they fear that whatever happened to their home world may happen to their colonies as well."
"That's quite understandable," commented Laura.
"And so they've been forced to stretch their forces," continued Mr. Grey, "leaving individual colonies with relatively few ships. We can concentrate our forces and strike one world at a time."
"Just as they did to us," said William, and smiled with malice. "It's payback time."
"Yes, Commander," said Mr. Grey with a thin smile. "So it is."
"But our forces are limited, too," said Milton.
"We have enough. We've already built new ships and more are on the way. And our soldiers are eager for payback," said Mr. Grey confidently. "We can take the first wave; you can follow as the second wave."
"Are you smiling, Grand Admiral?" said Laura looking at Mr. Grey.
"I am, Matriarch," said Mr. Grey, and his smile widened. "We will win this war after all. It's a good reason to smile."
"I agree," said Milton. "But there is one more thing I want your agreement on."
"What is it, Milton?" asked William.
"The Kaitians," said Milton, and the way he said it removed the smile from Mr. Grey's face. He understood what Milton meant.
"I agree with you, Advisor," said Mr. Grey.
"Agree with what?" asked William.
"We cannot allow this to happen again," answered Milton. "The Kaitians need to be exterminated."
&n
bsp; William nodded, without hesitation. "I agree."
Milton clearly wanted agreement from them all.
"The Saami Empire agrees," said Laura.
"As does the Ooktian Empire," said Kaldan. He'd been badly wounded at the battle of the Ooktian home world, and had barely survived.
"The Gemono Empire agrees as well," said Juno. He had also been at the battle of the Ooktian home world--where the Gemono had lost nearly their entire fleet.
"Excellent. The decision is unanimous," said Milton, relieved. He'd feared that there'd be objections; there was no way he could've justified the genocide. "We have just perfected the genetic weapon against the Kaitians and it is being delivered here. As soon as it arrives, I will equip my cruiser and deliver it to Kaitians personally."
William noticed that there were silent nods of agreement. He suspected that they were relieved to not have to use the weapon themselves.
He sighed in his mind; he had started this by destroying the Kaitian home star.
"Do you need a hand?" he asked.
"Two is better than one," said Milton, glad that William offered to help. "Rachel is bringing the weapon here. I suggest you take your ship and come here."
"Agreed," said William, "I'm on my way."
***
As soon as the conference call ended, William took his corvette and traveled to rendezvous with Milton. He was happy to see Rachel too, it had been too long time since he'd seen her.
"There it is," said William, mostly to himself. He had only the computer accompanying him.
"The remains of the Coalition fleet. Looks like all are here, except the Rg'Tkeen."
"You're right," said the computer. "All the Coalition ships that can fight are here. Advisor Milton is calling." The computer opened the channel.
"William," said Milton. "Very good to see you. Dock with us. We'll transfer the weapons to your ship and we can start."
"On my way," said William and instructed the computer to dock with the Thoughtful Flame.
***
"Are you sure you want to be with us?" Milton asked Rachel.
"Yes," she said. "I'm responsible for the weapon and I must be there."
"I disagree," said Milton.
"But you must do what you think best. What we are about to do will be with us as long as we live. And if the old stories are true, it'll be with us after we die, forever and ever on the other side of this existence."
"I know," said Rachel sadly. "I know."
"Advisor," called Colonel Nisha. "Commander Johnson has docked and the transfer has begun."
"I must go," said Rachel, and hurried to see William.
***
The Coalition fleet arrived to the border of the Kaitian Empire to rendezvous with the Rg'Tkeen fleet.