Marathon: The Complete Series (Books 1-9) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 89
part #1 of Marathon Series
“Why won’t you let us come?” Clifton asked. “We’re your friends. Why won’t you let us help you?”
He rounded on them and bellowed in Clifton’s face. “Because you might wind up dead, okay? Is that what you want to hear? You want to go get yourselves killed? Go jump off a bridge and leave me out of it. Is that what you want? You want me to stand around and watch you die? Is that the way you show me what a great friend you are?”
Both of them stared at him in shock. Eckhart whirled away to stop them from seeing how close he came to falling apart. He’d only made it through the hearing by going numb and refusing to feel anything.
He couldn’t cope with having people around him that he cared about, and who cared about him. This constant nagging fear that they would die made their presence an agony.
He couldn’t stand looking at them. He went into the ship and climbed up to the bridge. He was finally alone on this ship, the way he wanted to be.
He started the engines and pretended not to see Clifton and DeWalt going into the galley. At least they left him alone.
He steered through the atmosphere and out of the Earth solar system. He deleted every message from formerly-Regiment ships in orbit. They were all on their way back to Earth to be decommissioned. He didn’t want to read their messages or talk to anyone on them.
He could have set the ship on an automatic course back to rendezvous with the Atera, but he didn’t. He piloted the ship manually. It gave him an excuse to stay on the bridge. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with those two barnacles downstairs.
He hated them for coming along. He hated them for caring and for shoving his nose in the fact that he still cared. He never wanted to care ever again, or to meet anyone who cared.
He could find all that on Parilia. No one on Parilia cared…except Dichi.
At least Dichi didn’t know any of the terrible things Eckhart had done. Dichi thought Eckhart was as pure as the driven snow. Eckhart would never tell Dichi any of what he’d done off the planet.
The fleet came to meet him in its usual mixed bag of ragtag derelicts and gang fighters. Namol hailed Eckhart, and he deleted that message, too.
Eckhart headed for the Atera only because he needed to refuel before he left for Parilia. He’d tell Squids he was leaving. Squids could handle whatever happened next. If Eckhart played his cards right, he might be able to ditch Clifton and DeWalt on the Atera, too.
Then he remembered that Dallas and Bing were still on the Atera. Eckhart would never be able to ditch them—not without at least saying goodbye. Clifton and DeWalt, maybe. Dallas and Bing? Eckhart owed them better.
That crushing sensation snuck back into his chest when he thought about Dallas and Bing. How could he face them? They’d know about Rixby by now. They probably blamed Eckhart for her death, the same way they must blame him for Alice’s death.
He braced himself, heading for the landing platform. He’d just have to face the music. Then he could leave and go about the awful business of living with himself for the rest of his miserable life.
Fortunately, that wouldn’t last long on Parilia, either. Someone would find him and pay him back for something or other. It was only a matter of time.
He landed and made sure he marched past the galley without stopping or looking inside. He heard their voices and walked out before they could stop him again.
He released the hatch and walked out onto the platform. The Atera’s mechanical crews swarmed the Marathon. They would resupply it with fuel and Celdian. The ship would be ready to go as soon as Eckhart got this over with.
He headed for the elevator—and stopped in his tracks. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw what he thought was Rixby standing before him.
She stood in the middle of the landing platform talking to Squids. She didn’t see Eckhart…and then she turned around and looked right at him.
His world wobbled on its axis again. Was he hallucinating? Was his brain so addled by emotion and stress that he made this up to comfort himself?
She wavered her antennae at him. She looked real, but he didn’t trust his own senses. She couldn’t be real. He’d seen her fly into Yausqith’s center. No one could survive that explosion.
She left Squids’ side and waddled closer, stopping halfway between Squids and Eckhart. Her antennae swayed even more when she looked up to study him.
He stared down at her. If this was a hallucination or a trick of his mind, it sure was a realistic one. He could see every strand of her fur and the expression in her eyes as she looked up at him in such familiar concern. Did he dare to believe she was real?
He took a few more steps. Her gaze followed him. “Eckhart?” she asked.
He staggered to a halt right in front of her. She looked so real! She couldn’t be. He couldn’t stand to believe it if he was only going to find out later that it was some cruel trick.
Her eyes drew him in. He couldn’t stop staring into them. He ached so badly to believe that he really was looking into her eyes, the eyes he knew so well.
He never wanted to look away. He wanted to keep looking at her forever. He wanted to disappear into this fantasy and never come out of it.
“You brought Clifton and DeWalt back with you,” she told him. “I didn’t think you would. I thought you’d leave them back on Earth.”
Her voice sounded so perfect. It sounded the way it did while she was alive. It spoke to him. It called him to…do something.
Eckhart couldn’t bear this bone-crushing pain in his heart. He had to know, right now, once and for all, if this was real.
He tried to think of something he could do to prove it to himself, but no part of him fit with any other part of him right now.
He collapsed on his knees in front of her, and her gaze followed him. She stared straight into his soul. He couldn’t deny that look. She had to be real. He couldn’t survive it if she wasn’t.
“What’s wrong, Eckhart?” she asked.
Tears stung his eyes. He couldn’t do this anymore. He raised his arms, but he didn’t dare to touch her. He couldn’t survive the pain of touching her, especially if she turned out to be real. He would certainly die if she was.
She took another step toward him, and impossibly, he put his arms around her. She sank against him and he buried his face in her fur. She smelled so warm and alive and here that all that pain flooded out of him in tears that dampened her fur.
FINISHED
1
A giant battalion of alien warships migrated out of open space and formed up in ranks across the Keilara solar system. They all extended their weapons to aim at the enemy positioned beyond the outer planets’ orbit.
A hundred ships belonging to the United Collateral Regiment stood against the aliens. Seven giant Stormbreakers occupied the central position, with Colossus-class and Banshee-class fighters standing guard.
The two Buku leaders of the Immortals criminal syndicate watched from the bridge of the biggest alien warship, the Negnorix. “Immortals—stand ready to engage the enemy!” Nals ordered.
Nals’ partner and deputy, Aerleth, worked over a station next to him. “All ships signaling readiness to engage.”
“Scan the Regiment fleet. Locate their civilian population.”
“The civilians are scattered throughout the fleet—mostly on the Colossuses. They’re using their civilians to shield themselves.”
Nals snorted. “It won’t work. All guns to full power.”
“Powering up.”
“Open a channel to the Stormbreakers.”
“Channel open.”
Nals raised his voice. “In accordance with the Intergalactic High Court Ruling dated 487-29-3875, you are hereby ordered to surrender to intergalactic justice by disarming and abandoning your position. If you don’t disperse immediately, we will have no choice but to exact retribution as laid out in the ruling. You are declared outlaw and your citizenship in the Earth United Collateral system has been revoked, along with any and all immunity such citizenship might have granted you. You are subjected to capture and instant execution according to the law.”
Nothing happened for a moment, and Aerleth grinned at his friend. “You didn’t really think they’d disarm, did you?”
“I don’t kill civilians if I can help it.”
“These aren’t civilians. They’re the Regiment—or what’s left of them. These people fled justice. These are the same Regiment officers who killed thousands of aliens, and planned to kill millions more if we didn’t stop them.”
Nals stiffened. “Very well. All ships—full assault!”
The alien line swept out of position. The Immortals leaders’ vessel and a squadron of accessory vessels hung off from the main battle to supervise the attack.
The alien force descended on the last remnant of the Regiment force. They outnumbered the Regiment fleet by the thousands. Most of the alien warships were as big as the Stormbreakers and better gunned.
The instant Nals gave the order, the alien warships disgorged thousands of lightning-fast fighter craft who descended on the Regiment en masse. Lasers, plasma ejections, and every kind of ballistic weapon erupted. The alien assault swallowed the Regiment in gunfire. Fighter craft whizzed around the Stormbreakers, pelting every ship with dozens of shots.
Nals and Aerleth watched from their warship control room as the horde overran the Regiment position. The Stormbreakers didn’t move, and the rest of the Regiment ships closed tighter under the battleships’ protection.
“Why aren’t they shooting?” Aerleth asked.
Nals shook his head. He couldn’t stop staring at his controls. The aliens bombarded the Regiment with hundreds of shots, thousands of shots. Exploding ordnance, flickering lasers, and combusting plasma covered every Regiment hull, but none of the Regiment craft blew up. They just sat there.
“Something’s wrong,” Nals muttered.
Aerleth pounced on his controls. “Pull back! All ships—break off and retreat! Pull back to original positions!”
No one answered. “What’s wrong?” Nals asked.
Aerleth scrambled over his instruments. “There’s no response.”
“Can they hear you?”
“I’m not sure. Our line of communication is completely cut off.”
The alien force assaulted the Regiment even more ferociously. They deluged the Regiment in such a devastating carpet of fire that nothing could stand against them—except that the Regiment did. The Colossuses didn’t return fire, and the Banshees didn’t leave their positions. They didn’t spring forward to engage the aliens. They just sat there taking a pounding.
Aerleth entered another combination of orders into his controls. “Our shots aren’t doing any damage.”
“That’s impossible!” Nals countered.
“Check for yourself. Nothing is penetrating, and the Regiment isn’t returning fire. They aren’t even moving.”
“What’s wrong with them?” Nals croaked.
“Hold on. There’s something going on with the Stormbreakers.”
Both leaders switched their readouts to the giant Stormbreakers. They still didn’t move or fire their weapons, but something was definitely changing. Their energy signatures elevated, and then both leaders stared at the image feed coming from the seven battleships.
Something like sparks shimmered on the Stormbreakers’ enormous sides. It rippled outward from an invisible point deep inside the ships. It spread to the Stormbreakers’ hulls until a rain of glistening lights flickered all over their sides. The shining substance flashed outward and started to dissipate into space itself.
“What the hell is that?” Nals whispered.
“It doesn’t match any known scientific substance. It shouldn’t even exist. In fact, our sensors are having difficulty detecting it.”
Nals waved toward the image. Whatever it was, it was definitely there. He could see it with his own eyes. It started with the Stormbreakers and then widened into space, surrounding the other Regiment ships until it flowed all the way to the end of the line.
“Pull back!” Nals ordered. “Get them out of there!”
“Communications are still down. Two of our warships are overloading their engines. They’re trying to break away, but they can’t. Whatever that is, it’s holding them in place. They’re trapped!”
The two leaders gaped in open-mouthed shock at the scene unfolding before them. The alien horde buzzed around the Regiment vessels even more frantically. Their fire intensified, and now both leaders could clearly see the aliens fighting to escape.
That glowing whatever-it-was held them fast against their best efforts to break free. The sparks filled all the space between the alien vessels. It didn’t stop them from flying, or from landing as many hits on the Regiment as before, but the aliens couldn’t retreat.
Nals and Aerleth watched in horror as the shining pinpricks of light got brighter by the second. They started to increase their glow on the Stormbreaker hulls. It built until the seven Stormbreakers blazed with light. They radiated that mysterious energy, brighter than any star.
The dots between the alien ships vibrated to the same frequency. A sea of light surrounded the alien horde until the attack force hovered suspended in a pulsating river of light and energy.
Ten warships converged on the Stormbreakers. They must have realized they could only break out by working together. They concentrated their laser power on the central Stormbreaker and unleashed a hellish barrage on the enemy.
Their combined lasers struck the Stormbreaker’s hull and set off a chain reaction through the field. The outward-breaking wave swallowed all the alien ships.
“No!” Nals bellowed, but it was too late. The light flashed outward and then contracted back inside the Stormbreakers. The battlefield went dark, and then a colossal shockwave pulsed in the blackness.
It enveloped the whole solar system before it imploded back into the Stormbreakers. It sucked every alien vessel along with it, and they hurtled toward the Stormbreakers in an all-powerful vortex.
The massive horde shrank to nothing, until the entire force of thousands had evaporated inside the Stormbreakers.
Aerleth opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Everyone on the bridge stared at the empty place where the alien army had been only moments before.
Nothing remained but the Regiment line. It covered the Keilara solar system in exactly the same position it had held when the Immortals first showed up.
Nals didn’t move either. A dangerous silence fell over the bridge, and then, like something out of a nightmare, the same subtle shine started to radiate outward from inside the Stormbreakers.
“Retreat!” Nals roared. “Full reverse! Get us out of here!”
His bridge staff scrambled over their controls to draw the Negnorix out of harm’s way, but anyone could see it was no good. All the accessory vessels that attended the Immortals fleet throttled in reverse, too. They skidded out of line, and several whirled around to sprint away into space.
Aerleth worked to his utmost to bring the Negnorix’s engines online. “It’s building up to the same frequency.”
“Don’t tell me that!” Nals roared. “Just get us out of here!”
Too late. The sparks shimmered brighter and then exploded out of the Regiment position. They rocketed across the solar system in the blink of an eye and swallowed the Immortals.
A few accessory vessels got away fast enough, but the Negnorix got trapped in the wave. That mysterious energy enveloped the warships and held them fast.
“Our engines are overloading!” Aerleth called. “We can’t overcome it!”
“We have to!” Nals countered. “Fire on it! Break us out of its grip.”
“No!” Aerleth roared, but one of the bridge staff had already opened up with the plasma cannons.
The bombardment stabbed into the wave, and a gargantuan explosion burst from the spot. The shot didn’t hit anything solid, but the response came swift and sure.
A massive popping bubble of energy detonated outward, carrying all the remaining ships with it. Then, at some invisible limit, the wave imploded with a giant sucking force. It snatched every alien ship out of thin air and they all vanished inside the Stormbreakers.
They left the Keilara solar system empty and peaceful, except for the Regiment line standing silent and alone where the Immortals had found them.
No one came to bother the Regiment again. They had the whole sector to themselves.
2
An alarm shrieked on the command podium of the battlecruiser Atera. Rixby hopped over the controls and stepped on a few buttons. Her long fingers darted over the instruments in a flurry.
“It’s a distress call! It’s from a stranded freighter coming into this system.” She looked up, and her antennae waved at Adam Eckhart. “The ship belongs to the Immortals.”
“What’s an Immortals freighter doing out here?” Blake Clifton asked from another workstation, formerly occupied by Rixby. “They usually stick to their own lanes.”
“This one is out of fuel,” Rixby replied. “It’s been adrift for days. Its distress signal is on an emergency channel. That’s why we didn’t pick it up sooner. The ship was too far away.”
“Contact Nals and Aerleth,” Eckhart ordered. “See if the Immortals have a freighter in this part of space that’s unaccounted for.”
“I’m hailing their warship. There’s no answer.”
Eckhart frowned at her. “That isn’t right.”
“Their last known location was the Keilara system.”
Eckhart stiffened. “That’s impossible. They wouldn’t…”
“It looks like they did,” Clifton confirmed. “They registered as en route to the Keilara sector yesterday with more than two thousand Immortals attack craft. Now they’re gone. There’s no trace of them.”
Eckhart looked down at the instruments under Rixby’s feet. She was bringing up the same Immortals itinerary Clifton was looking at. Eckhart could see for himself that they were telling the truth.
