Marathon: The Complete Series (Books 1-9) (Complete Series Box Sets), page 94
part #1 of Marathon Series
That left the Ihi, and for them, someone had to deal with the Vrali. Everyone else in the galaxy was watching to see Eckhart solve the world’s problems, so he supposed he had to solve this one, too.
He honestly didn’t care anymore about the danger. Something had flipped in his mind. Maybe actually making the decision to fire on Dallas had done it. Eckhart couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it had happened, but he had somehow migrated beyond the point where sacrificing someone didn’t mean as much as getting rid of the Regiment completely.
Maybe Dallas had made his point about that. One person didn’t matter, no matter who it was. Losing friends—losing Eckhart’s own life—none of that mattered anymore. Only the course in front of him mattered.
Not even the course mattered. Only the destination mattered. The obstacles and impossibilities standing between him and his destination dwindled until they vanished completely.
He checked to make sure all four fleets left the area before he approached Vrali space. Another fleet of giant destroyers patrolled the boundary.
They hailed the Marathon, and a gruff, gravelly voice barked through the communications system, but no visual came through. “State your business in Vrali space.”
“I want to meet with…” Eckhart checked the records he got from Rixby. “I want to meet with Phrolain. My name is Eckhart. I’m in command of the alien fleet trying to destroy what’s left of the Regiment in the Keilara system. I want to meet with Phrolain to secure his cooperation in our campaign.”
“Liar!” Bing muttered under his breath.
Eckhart had to laugh. “I do want his cooperation. I want his cooperation to release the Ihi.”
“He’ll never agree.”
“I know he won’t, but that is the reason I’m here.”
Bing chuckled and shot Eckhart a grin. “So what’s your plan? Get in front of him and then kill him?”
“I wasn’t planning on that, not right away.”
Bing practically fell out of his chair laughing, but a second later, the Vrali patrol hailed the Marathon again. “We will take your ship into custody. We will transport you to Gruna.”
“That isn’t what we discussed,” Eckhart countered. “I’ll fly to Gruna on my own. No one is taking me into custody.”
“We will take you into custody,” the same voice snarled. “That is the only condition under which you will enter our space. If you cross the boundary, we will open fire.”
Bing sighed. “Looks like you have a decision to make.”
“I’m not off to a very good start, am I?” Eckhart reopened the channel. “All right. You can take us into custody.”
One of the patrol vessels slipped out of line. The destroyers were all far bigger than the Atera. They were even bigger than the Stormbreakers. This was one of the smaller ones.
It pivoted backward, and some kind of field started to draw the Marathon into the rear hold. Bing studied it on the tactical grid. “What are they doing?”
“This must be some of their Destrine-based technology that no one else knows about. Why do you think the Vrali are so feared?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s their tendency to kill anyone who doesn’t belong to their society. How do you plan to get the ship out of their hold once it’s time to leave?”
“First, we have to convince Phrolain to let us leave.”
Bing snorted. “That’s your job, not ours.”
The ship thumped down on the hold floor. “Stay inside your vessel,” the gruff voice ordered. “Do not attempt to disembark, or we will open fire.”
“That’s their favorite phrase,” Bing grumbled. “Do they honestly think we want to disembark here and see the sights?”
Eckhart tried to scan the patrol ship, but nothing came up. “The Destrine blocks all our scans. They really do good work with their technology.”
“What are you going to do when Phrolain refuses to let you use the Ihi…or even see them?” Bing asked.
“Could you stop asking questions? You’re making me nervous.”
“You don’t look nervous,” Bing remarked. “You look like you’re taking a walk in the park, considering you’re about to meet with one of the most notorious mass murderers in the galaxy.”
Eckhart didn’t answer that one, either. He was surprising even himself by how calm he was. This was by far the most dangerous mission he had ever undertaken, but he didn’t feel the slightest misgiving about meeting Phrolain or asking him for a favor that Eckhart already knew Phrolain would refuse.
Reckless daring started pumping through his veins. He actually felt insanely confident about this project—not because he thought it would work, because it wouldn’t. He just didn’t give a flat shit anymore about anything except getting what he wanted.
Maybe he was turning into the leader Aistenz used to be. Maybe all the disasters Eckhart had suffered up until now really were the consequence of him being too soft and getting along with everyone.
None of that would get him anywhere here, but he no longer even had any desire to get along or watch out for anyone. He just wanted to reach his destination, and to hell with anyone or anything that got in his way.
He fiddled with his controls for a while, but the Destrine in the patrol vessel blocked him from seeing anything outside it. He eventually gave up and went down to the galley to see Dallas. Bing showed up a second later.
Dallas stood by his old nutrient aperture. He was studying something on his arm prosthetic. “Do you still need nutrient?” Eckhart asked.
“I haven’t taken any on board since Bing and I discovered that the quantatid was taking over my operating system. I’ve been waiting for the alert telling me to take on more nutrient, but it still hasn’t come.”
“So how are your organic parts functioning?”
Dallas cocked his head to one side. “I’m not sure. I’m not even sure I have any organic parts left.”
Just then, the same gruff voice came over the communications system. “You may disembark. Our patrol will take you to Phrolain.”
“Good.” Eckhart started unbuckling his sidearms. “I hate waiting.”
“Aren’t you going to take any weapons?” Bing asked.
“No, and neither are you. Phrolain would execute us on the spot if we went to visit him armed. We probably wouldn’t even get off the patrol ship.”
“What about me?” Dallas asked. “I can’t disarm.”
“Just keep your weapons hidden.”
“Go on and finish that sentence,” Bing told him. “Tell us how you’re going to play it by ear and see what happens.”
“You said it, not me.”
Eckhart strode out of the galley. Dallas and Bing followed him to the cargo hold, and they walked out.
A bunch of armed Vrali surrounded them and held them at gunpoint the instant they made their appearance. Eckhart raised his arms. “We’re unarmed. We only want to talk to Phrolain. We come in peace.”
“No one comes to Vrali space in peace,” the biggest Vrali snarled. It was the same voice that had spoken to him on the bridge. The patrol formed a ring around the four visitors and leveled their guns at their heads. “You may proceed.”
Eckhart started walking. He didn’t have to wonder where to go. The patrol maintained their positions, flanking the group on all sides.
Their weapons didn’t resemble anything Eckhart had ever seen before. Even the patrol ship’s interior looked strange.
The Vrali weren’t the biggest aliens on the fringes, even though they dwarfed Eckhart. Pincers surrounded their faces, with their fanged mouths taking up most of the space beneath their eyes. Three sets of jointed, muscular arms came out of elongated, segmented bodies. Their powerful legs carried them with surprising ease, considering their size and bulk.
Each set of arms held a different gun so each Vrali could target a different member of the group. The Vrali’s small eyes darted back and forth so fast they didn’t seem to look at anything for very long, but that was another illusion. Their lightning reflexes made them one of the deadliest species on the fringes.
Luckily for everyone else, the Vrali kept to themselves as long as no unfortunate alien strayed inside their territory. The Vrali retaliated against trespassers and traitors with unnatural ferocity. They resisted belonging to any other criminal group, and they recognized no authority but their own.
The other gangs steered clear of the Vrali, and Aistenz had done the same. He never even attempted to negotiate with them, much less tried to exercise his authority over them. He wouldn’t dare.
The patrol ship’s hold opened by some curious device Eckhart didn’t understand. The hull curled back like the skin of a living animal to reveal a vast hall rising high in the air.
Vrali filled the whole structure. They all seemed to be going somewhere, but none of them was going the same place as anyone else. Eckhart couldn’t figure out what they were doing, but the patrol never let him and his friends close to the rank and file Vrali anyway.
The party headed off into the crowd. The locals kept well out of the patrol’s path. None of them even looked sideways at the new arrivals.
The patrol marched Eckhart and his friends to the very far end of the hall. The Vrali even covered the walls with countless chambers, rooms, apartments, or whatever they were up there. The hall resembled a vast city, but Eckhart didn’t see any commerce: no trade, no goods being exchanged—nothing.
He didn’t have time to wonder how their society worked. If he ever got the hell out of here, he might be one of the few people on the fringes who ever saw Vrali society and lived to tell the tale. He wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about what he saw, though. He didn’t understand it himself.
The patrol approached the farthest back wall, and the atmosphere definitely changed here. The surrounding Vrali didn’t crisscross each other’s path as much. They all headed in the same direction Eckhart was going.
The patrol halted in the middle of a massive crowd gathered by the back wall. All the Vrali were taller than Eckhart, so he couldn’t see beyond them to whatever they were gathering to see. This must be Phrolain.
The visitors had to stand and wait for a long time. One person at a time inched forward until Eckhart realized they were forming a queue to file in front of Phrolain’s throne.
The Vrali leader sat on a giant seat carved into the wall itself. Numerous Vrali stood guard over him, each one holding multiple weapons. Steps rose from the floor so Phrolain sat above his underlings.
The common Vrali filed in front of him and addressed him in their own language. It sounded to Eckhart like a bunch of scratchy hisses. Phrolain answered each one in the same husky undertone, and the guards surrounding him carried out whatever decision he handed down
They dragged some Vrali away. Others received gifts from Phrolain, but quite a few got executed right there at the foot of his throne.
This didn’t deter the Vrali from going near him. Phrolain’s guards wrestled some unfortunate creature to the floor and blasted his head off with their many weapons, but the rest of the crowd only surged forward in their haste to take the victim’s place.
Eckhart caught Bing glancing at him. If Eckhart failed, he and Bing would probably meet the same fate. Eckhart didn’t know what Dallas planned to do in that case, but he thought he had a pretty good idea.
Dallas might be able to survive a full-scale Vrali assault, but an Earthling and a Yakit wouldn’t get off so easily.
Eckhart’s pulse quickened as he neared the front of the crowd. His brain stubbornly resisted coming up with any strategy for dealing with Phrolain once their turn came.
The patrol broke through the frontmost line of Vrali. Now nothing stopped Phrolain from seeing the visitors—or captives, as it were.
He reacted instantly and froze to his seat. His hard eyes didn’t waver from the group except to flick from Eckhart to Bing, and finally to Dallas.
Phrolain raised one arm and motioned the group forward. He said something in his own language and the patrol prodded Eckhart in the ribs.
Eckhart advanced, with the patrol still holding the group at gunpoint. The guards never lowered their weapons once. He positioned himself right in front of Phrolain.
“You are Eckhart,” Phrolain began in a gravelly voice.
“Yes, I am. I’m the one waging war against the Regiment—or what’s left of it. I’ve come to ask for your help to stop these people from destroying the fringes.”
“They will never destroy the Vrali. Earthlings are too weak.”
Murmurs went through the crowd, and Eckhart became aware of everyone behind him listening to their conversation.
“The Regiment has been plotting for years to wipe out all the aliens on the fringes,” Eckhart went on. “They’ve developed powerful weapons that can annihilate your whole population without you ever laying eyes on an Earthling. That’s what they’re doing over in the Keilara system right now.”
“What the Regiment does is your business, not ours,” Phrolain boomed. “You are the one who began this war against them.”
“I only started the war to stop them from killing billions of innocent aliens.”
“And the aliens have killed billions of innocent Earthlings. This is what I think of your war against the Regiment.”
He waved his arm to one side. Eckhart saw movement in his peripheral vision. He braced himself for someone to attack him from that direction, but when he looked that way, he spotted one of the rear patrol guards rushing into the group.
Before anyone could blink, the guard aimed some kind of device at Dallas’ neck. The thing buzzed, and Dallas slumped. His chin fell on his chest and all his limbs went slack except for his legs, still holding him upright.
Eckhart spun around, but it was too late. “You brought a weapon of war into our stronghold,” Phrolain rumbled. “You deserve to die for your treachery, but since you are the leader of this misguided campaign, I will keep you alive to make sure your fleet does not come back for you. If they try to rescue you, you will die along with your friends.”
He waved again, and the crowd parted to Eckhart’s right. His blood ran cold when more Vrali dragged Namol, Innyria, and Chemorix into view. All three gang leaders were bleeding and covered in bruises.
The guards threw the three gang leaders down on the floor at Eckhart’s feet. He had half a second to make eye contact with Innyria before the patrol closed in. Eckhart ducked to avoid a gun coming down on his head, and then a devastating crack struck him from behind.
He buckled and hit the floor, out cold.
8
Bing bent over Innyria, pulled open his mouth, and spat a dose of Eplite onto Innyria’s tongue. “I’m sorry, Eckhart. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”
Eckhart pulled the cloth away from his face, grimaced at the blood soaking it, and pressed it back into place. “Take your time, pal. Take care of them first. I can wait.”
Bing went back to examining Innyria. He patted down Innyria’s arms and located a bad break in one of his legs. “You didn’t really think this would work, did you?”
“I wasn’t expecting Phrolain to let me just waltz out with the Ihi, if that’s what you mean.” Eckhart surveyed the area around him with his one good eye. “Still, we’re in here and we’re still alive. That means we still have a chance to succeed.”
“Succeed in getting ourselves killed, you mean.”
“Will you shut up with that?” Eckhart snapped. “You didn’t have to come. If you’re just going to nag me all the time, keep your mouth shut.”
As soon as he said it, he regretted it. He’d never talked to anyone on the Marathon crew like that before and he didn’t want to start now, but Bing only laughed. “Okay, buddy. I’ll try to keep the attitude to a minimum, but someone has to give you grief now that it’s just the two of us.”
Eckhart winced again and withdrew his attention from the surroundings. He didn’t need to look to see just how hopeless the situation was. He’d been looking at it for hours while Bing worked on Chemorix and Namol. Eckhart had practically memorized every detail of his position.
The patrol that had brought him into Phrolain’s hall had dumped him, Bing, and the three gang leaders in one of the hundreds of adjacent rooms. They didn’t even bother to stand guard. They didn’t have to, with so many Vrali around.
There must have been thousands of them in this hall, and each one was as dangerous and xenophobic as the next. Any one of them would sooner kill the prisoners than look at them.
The simple fact that Eckhart and his friends belonged to different species made them the Vrali’s enemies. Eckhart being an Earthling couldn’t possibly make the situation worse.
Eckhart didn’t need to wonder where Dallas was, either. Phrolain had had his guards move Dallas’ inert frame up to the platform on which Phrolain’s throne stood. Dallas’ shiny armored frame stood right next to Phrolain’s elbow just to drive the point home, in case Eckhart didn’t understand it already.
Phrolain had deactivated Dallas. Eckhart didn’t want to find out whether Dallas would ever turn back on again. These Vrali had done to Dallas what all the Regiment’s experimental weapons couldn’t.
Eckhart barely glanced out into the hall when the patrol of Vrali guards passed the entrance to the room where the prisoners sat. The guards looked in on them and then left.
This one patrol had been coming by every now and then, but Eckhart couldn’t detect any pattern to their appearance. It appeared to be completely random, and strangest of all, the other Vrali paid no attention these guards. No one treated them any differently than the rank-and-file Vrali.
Eckhart couldn’t make head or tail of Vrali society. It resembled no other culture he had ever encountered on the fringes, but then again, he hadn’t been here that long.
The guards only paused for a second to make sure the prisoners were still there, and then they left. They might not come back for hours, or they might not come back at all.
They treated their guarding duties so casually, Eckhart could almost believe they weren’t really guarding the prisoners at all, but only looking in out of curiosity.
