Marathon: The Complete Series (Books 1-9) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 100
part #1 of Marathon Series
Another Stormbreaker went up in smoke, followed by five more Colossuses, and then the alien horde concentrated everything on the center Stormbreaker. The last few Colossuses detonated.
In seconds, the aliens had decimated the Regiment—all except that one Stormbreaker.
Eckhart stared at it in a kind of horror. This was the only Stormbreaker that mattered anymore. It was his Stormbreaker, but he couldn’t get near it.
The aliens pounded it with every gun in their arsenal, but they couldn’t touch it. The laser shooting from it blazed as powerfully as it ever had with the other six warships joining in. This Stormbreaker could hold Dallas at bay with no help from anyone.
A sick feeling sneaked into Eckhart’s stomach, and he knew what was going to happen a second before it happened.
The Jackal Clan plunged in to target the Stormbreaker’s hull at the point where the laser came out. The ship didn’t have any aperture or weapons port. Of course it didn’t. The laser didn’t come from the hull. It came from the asset buried deep inside the ship.
The Jackal Clan fired Triorium ejections on the laser, and a deafening report ricocheted down the beam. It fed back to the Stormbreaker and outward along the laser.
The blast hit Dallas, and he exploded in an epic boom that sent a shockwave crawling across the Keilara system. It smashed Eckhart in the face and he buckled to his knees on the catwalk, gasping and retching.
DeWalt grabbed his elbow and tried to pick Eckhart up. “What the hell happened? Are you okay?”
Cold sweat drenched Eckhart all over. He couldn’t breathe. He hugged his arms tight over his stomach, fighting to keep his sanity, but he couldn’t block the sight out of his mind. Dallas. Dallas was going to die in the upcoming battle.
The gentle glow of Destrine flowing through the Atera’s engines hypnotized Eckhart all over again, but that only made the vision clearer. It forced the image into his brain, where he couldn’t get rid of it.
DeWalt finally succeeded in hauling Eckhart to his feet. “Call Bing,” DeWalt told one of the mechanics behind Eckhart’s back. “Tell him it’s an emergency.”
“No!” Eckhart croaked. “I’m…okay.”
“You’re about as far from okay as it’s possible to be. You’re going to the medical bay.”
“No!” Eckhart tore himself away and stumbled back up the catwalk. DeWalt tried to keep up with him, but Eckhart lost him when he got to the stairs leading back to the corridor.
He picked up the pace once he got off by himself. He had to find Dallas. Eckhart had to find a way to stop Dallas from taking part in the battle. He couldn’t let this vision come true, not for anything.
Eckhart got confused about where he was and finally lurched back to the hall outside the crew quarters. He, Clifton, and DeWalt stayed here. Dallas had been using a cabin on this level—not because he needed it. He just used it when he wanted somewhere to go to be by himself.
Eckhart turned into the hall…and stopped in his tracks when he met Ingai coming toward him. He couldn’t look at his friend. The understanding in Ingai’s eyes made Eckhart sick.
Eckhart sped up and crossed to Dallas’ door, but he hesitated to go inside. Ingai didn’t say anything. He was just there. He already knew everything.
Eckhart summoned his resolve and opened the door. He walked in without knocking and found Dallas standing at another workstation. Eckhart couldn’t look at what he was working on. Eckhart thought he already knew.
“I think I’ve finally figured out which frequencies to use on the Stormbreakers,” Dallas told him. “I’m sure it will work this time.”
Eckhart swallowed hard. “I don’t want you to do this. The Ihi have already shown they can break that space distortion. We shouldn’t put you in danger when the Ihi can do it.”
Dallas looked up. “Just because they can neutralize the space distortion doesn’t mean they’ll be able to neutralize the Stormbreakers. The Regiment will concentrate all their weapons around the Stormbreakers. They’d sooner lose their Colossuses than let us destroy the Stormbreakers.”
“I know that, but I still don’t want you to go. It’s too dangerous. If the Stormbreakers turn out to be too strong, we could lose you, too.”
“We’ve been over this, Eckhart. I’m going out whether you want me to or not.”
Eckhart felt his last nerve preparing to snap. “Dallas…I’m begging you not to do this. Please, as a friend, just sit this one out—just once—for me.”
Dallas studied him through his optical lens. Eckhart felt himself shaking. He wanted to fall through the floor and disappear rather than have Dallas look at him like that, but Eckhart couldn’t break that gaze. He couldn’t walk away as long as Dallas held him in that unbreakable stare.
A second later, Dallas looked down at his instruments and went back to what he was doing. He kept bringing up readings and adjusting this and that. He didn’t look at Eckhart again, and he didn’t answer.
Eckhart’s stomach clenched. That was it. That was the only answer Dallas would ever give him. He’d made his decision, and nothing Eckhart could say or do would stop what was about to happen.
Eckhart watched him in misery. The quantatid had done a hell of a lot more than turn Dallas into an unfeeling robot with no personality. If anything, it had made Dallas even stronger, even more the sturdy, deep-feeling man that Eckhart knew and cared about. Dallas had become even more the person Eckhart longed to save from this terrible fate.
Whatever the quantatid did to Dallas, it made him even more resolved to do his part and make amends for the past. It burned away the dregs of indecision and left this determined warrior with nothing but his own destiny before him.
Eckhart couldn’t feel his legs. They carried him out of Dallas’ quarters and brought him to a stop in front of Ingai.
“He’s going, isn’t he?” Ingai asked.
Eckhart nodded, too devastated to say a word. How could he order the assault and send Dallas to his death?
He had to. Eckhart’s own destiny waited for him in the Keilara system. Dallas was just another speed bump on the road. Eckhart’s feelings for Dallas were the biggest speed bump of all, and speed bumps no longer stopped Eckhart from doing what had to be done.
Ingai moved in front of Eckhart’s face and peered deep into his eyes. At least someone in this mess knew what Eckhart saw. He didn’t have to carry the vision alone, even if he had to carry his destiny alone. No one could live that for him.
15
Eckhart pointed to a chart of the Keilara system. “The Regiment only has forty Colossuses and seven Stormbreakers, but we can’t underestimate the assets’ power.”
“We don’t even know what these assets are,” Innyria countered. “They never show themselves.”
“That’s why you, Namol, and Chemorix will attack the outer perimeter—here and here. Don’t split your formation the way you did last time, Innyria. Each of you target individual Colossuses and destroy them from the outside in, toward the center.”
“What about the assets?” Namol asked.
“Dallas and the Ihi will neutralize the assets. The Ihi will deploy along with the rest of the fleet. They’ll be all over the battlefield, but you don’t have to worry about hitting them. They can defend themselves against your weaponry.”
“How do you know?” Rixby asked from the table at Eckhart’s elbow. “We haven’t seen the Ihi in battle.”
“Call it inside intelligence.” Eckhart pointed to the central Stormbreaker. “This Stormbreaker will be concentrating the other warships’ lasers into one beam. Dallas will neutralize that, so as long as you stay out of the main beam, it shouldn’t bother you, either.”
Nearly everyone at the table glanced over at Dallas, but he didn’t respond. He stood there immobile and impenetrable. He didn’t ask how Eckhart knew any of this, either, and Eckhart didn’t tell him.
“Once you finish with the Colossuses, that will free you all up to focus on the Stormbreakers. Start with these six.” Eckhart pointed out the other Stormbreakers. “Leave this one until last.”
“Then what?” Ulnus asked. “If all the assets are on this Stormbreaker, destroying the others won’t give us any advantage over this one.”
“I know. Once we finish off all the other Regiment vessels, the Jackal Clan will swoop in and bombard the last Stormbreaker with Triorium. That will set off a chain reaction that should feed back and destroy the Stormbreaker.”
“You tried that last time,” Rixby countered. “It didn’t work.”
“I adjusted my frequencies,” Dallas replied. “It’ll work this time.”
“You hope it will,” Clifton argued. “An explosion that big could destroy you instead.”
“That’s my decision,” Dallas replied.
“Not if it puts the rest of us in danger,” Innyria chimed in. “We should go over the readings on these frequencies before we launch the assault. What’s the point of going into battle in the first place when we don’t know we can win?”
“We don’t need to go over the frequencies,” Rixby added. “Going over them won’t give us any clue about whether they’ll work. The whole thing is pure speculation.”
“What about the Ihi?” Bing asked. “You went to a lot of trouble to bring them here. Are they going to attack the Stormbreaker, too? Isn’t that what they’re here for? They aren’t just going to sit there and neutralize the assets when they could tip the scales in our favor.”
Eckhart winced. He couldn’t exactly explain everything he knew about the battle before it happened.
“The Ihi will assault the Stormbreakers,” Ingai told them. “Once you destroy the Colossuses, we will all assault the Stormbreakers.”
“The Destrine drive of all Eckhart’s fleet and the Vrali destroyers will overcome the Stormbreakers,” Thagmor added. “Even if the Triorium explosion doesn’t work, we have other weapons.”
Eckhart’s gaze skipped around the conference room table. Rixby, Bing, Squids, Clifton, DeWalt, and Dallas joined the three gang leaders, Ulnus, Thagmor, and Ingai—all the leaders who’d be taking part in the battle.
Thagmor and Ingai didn’t let on about Eckhart’s pre-knowledge of the outcome. No amount of bombarding the central Stormbreaker would destroy it. Only Eckhart could do that, though he still didn’t know how exactly he was supposed to do it.
The others studied the chart. “I don’t like this,” Rixby muttered. “It leaves too many holes in the plan. We need to do more planning.”
“Like you said, more planning won’t make us better prepared. All the gangs are chomping at the bit to attack the Regiment. If we wait much longer, we’ll only weaken our own position.”
“Still…” She trailed off.
“We’ve waited long enough. We have the Ihi and the whole Vrali fleet with us. We’ll never be better prepared than we are now.”
He waited, but no one said anything else. Eckhart measured everyone at the table. He didn’t need to ask if Dallas, Namol, Innyria, the Ihi, and the Vrali were ready. They were only waiting for the others to stop dithering.
“If there are no more questions, you all know what you need to do.” Eckhart turned to Rixby. “You’ll be in charge of the Atera’s fleet. I’m going out on the Marathon.”
She squeaked in surprise. “No! You can’t!”
“I am. The Jackal Clan has fitted the ship with both Triorium drive and Destrine drive. I’m going out.”
She made a moaning sound under her fur. “This is terrible!”
“I’m in charge of this. I have to go.”
Bing put his arms around her and lifted her off the table. He hugged her and shot Eckhart an accusing look. Eckhart read the same expression on DeWalt’s and Clifton’s faces.
No one on that whole side of the table understood what he was doing or why he was doing it. None of them approved, but that didn’t touch him anymore.
After his last conversation with Dallas, Eckhart had crossed a line that had been waiting for him all this time. Dallas was the one who’d pushed him over it.
Eckhart had to be the one to fire on Dallas. He couldn’t leave that to anyone else. If destroying the Regiment meant losing Dallas, Eckhart had to be the one to strike that blow. He wouldn’t shrink from his destiny any longer.
He’d been the one to get Namol’s mechanics and the Vrali to modify the Marathon. Eckhart had modified the ship hundreds of times since he’d first bought it, but he couldn’t do this himself.
The ship had never been more powerful, but none of that mattered anymore. Eckhart had to coordinate this battle. He had to lead the fleet. He couldn’t sit around on the Atera’s bridge watching.
Neither Namol nor Thagmor questioned why Eckhart wanted to modify the Marathon. They were both too warlike to care about anything but getting the job done. To them, any improvement to any ship made good sense, and Eckhart was starting to see their point.
“You all know what you need to do,” he finally announced. “Clifton and DeWalt will work with Rixby on the bridge along, with Squids. Bing, you’re with me.”
Bing burst into a huge grin. “Just like old times, huh?”
“Not exactly.”
“The Jackal Clan is ready to roll when you give the word, Eckhart,” Namol added.
“We all are,” Thagmor chimed in. “This is long overdue.”
“Then you can all deploy. You can fall in formation with my fleet and—”
A gunshot banged into the Atera and the ship shuddered. Another dozen thumps struck the new Destrine shields.
Rixby hopped over to the controls embedded in the table. “We’re under attack! We’re taking laser shots on our starboard side! The whole fleet is under bombardment!”
Eckhart sidestepped to look down between her feet. “Who’s attacking us?”
He froze when he saw the shots coming from Ulnus’ army. Eckhart’s head snapped up and his eyes met Ulnus’. “What are you doing, Ulnus?”
Ulnus bared his teeth and hissed. “You are a coward, Earthling. You will die and a real alien will take your place in this campaign.”
More shots pounded the shields, but they didn’t cause as much damage as before. The Atera didn’t even move.
A split second’s thought crossed Eckhart mind. He couldn’t let Ulnus get away with such a blatant act of treachery. He couldn’t stand by and tolerate Ulnus attacking the Atera on the very eve of battle.
Eckhart didn’t have a chance to act before Dallas stabbed his arm at Ulnus, snapped out his assault gun, and fired straight into Ulnus’ face. The wobbly body collapsed to the floor, oozing blood everywhere.
Datrium vapor billowed from the gun barrel. Eckhart didn’t even have time to react, and now Ulnus was dead.
“The Vrali are assaulting Ulnus’ army,” Rixby said.
Eckhart pounced on the controls and punched the console. He opened a communications channel to the whole alien horde. “All ships—destroy Ulnus’ army—full assault! Wipe them out to the last man! Leave no survivors!”
The party around the conference table exploded in all directions. Thagmor and Ingai bolted out the door, followed closely by the three gang leaders. They vanished into the elevator.
Eckhart and his core group stepped out onto the bridge to see the whole fleet up in arms. Ulnus’ army formed ranks to defend themselves, but the tide was already turning.
Ulnus had thousands of ships, but they couldn’t stand against the combined might of the other fleets. The Vrali struck the first blow. Their Destrine weapons carved a path of destruction into the farthest end of Ulnus’ line.
Ulnus’ army made their stand facing the Atera and the three gangs. That left Ulnus’ ships exposed from the side, and the Vrali exploited that weakness to the maximum.
The Vrali plunged into Ulnus’ ranks, destroying everything in their path. They shattered the formation, and dozens of Ulnus’ ships spun around to confront the Vrali.
The three gangs raced ahead of Eckhart’s fleet and pounded Ulnus’ remaining ships from the front. In a few seconds, the battle dissolved into a chaotic jumble of explosions and erupting weapons.
An instant later, the Ihi launched from the Vrali destroyers. They drifted straight through the destroyers’ hulls, and thousands of blue pinpricks of light flooded the battlefield.
They emerged in a vast flood of sparks that whooshed toward Ulnus’ army. A swarm of microscopic fireflies surrounded Ulnus’ fleet, and every one of those ships froze in place. They couldn’t move or shoot.
The gangs and the Vrali struck fast and sure. They blasted every one of Ulnus’ ships to smithereens in a brutal shooting galley of blood and death. The Ihi held Ulnus’ army defenseless before the gangs’ vengeance.
Ships exploded all over the field, but Eckhart couldn’t even bring himself to regret this. He turned to Rixby. “Get a visual feed on this and transmit it to every planet on the fringes. Make sure everybody sees it, so they all understand what happens to anyone who betrays our cause.”
She stared at him in shocked horror and didn’t move. He prepared himself to get stern with her when DeWalt answered from across the bridge. “I’m recording the feed now. It’s transmitting.”
Eckhart relaxed and turned his attention back to the battle that was rapidly turning into a massacre. The Ihi released the last few ships from Ulnus’ force, but they didn’t stand a chance against the Vrali and the gangs.
In a matter of minutes, the Vrali returned to their formation and the gangs retreated back to Eckhart’s fleet. “It’s finished, Eckhart,” Innyria reported.
Eckhart bumped Bing’s shoulder. “Let’s go. Dallas, you can launch whenever you’re ready.” He headed for the elevator and called over his shoulder as the three friends entered it. “And somebody get that piece of shit out of the conference room.”
16
The alien fleet glided into position at the Keilara system’s outer rim. Eckhart steered the Marathon up next to the Atera.
