* * * * *
The Lucani Ibron have yet to return, but all is not well within the Alpha Sector. Internal strife, terrorism, and ever-escalating conflicts with several neighboring species have spread the Confederation's resources dangerously thin. Captain Anastasia Mason, together with an eclectic group of humanity's most decorated heroes, struggles to hold the Confederation together against powerful forces that threaten to rip it apart at its very core. Then, at what appears to be mankind’s most desperate hour, an old enemy returns from a ten-year hiatus, casting humanity to the brink of civil war... and outright annihilation.
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Seconds passed and seemed like eons. There was no sign of activity from the alien ship. No movement, no attempt at communication. The categorical indifference was, indeed, the very hallmark of the alien species.
Suddenly, the viewscreen changed, resolving to show the bridge of the alien ship, a sight with which David was also all too familiar. Though he had last seen it ten years ago, his recollection was as vivid as any memory he had. Every detail of the alien bridge was exactly as he remembered it: hovering light-beings clustered around indecipherable patterns of light, flickering and changing shape seemingly at will. In the center was a being more brilliant than the rest, and the Admiral was forced to squint in order to prevent the entire scene from merging into a single luminous blur.
"Yes, Admiral David Caesar Atgard," came the being’s delayed response. "We do indeed remember you."
The words -- or, more accurately, the thoughts -- of the creature were not spoken aloud, but instead reverberated only in David’s mind.
"Good," replied the Admiral, leaning forward in his command chair, uncomfortably aware that he was alone on the ship. "Then you remember what happened the last time you killed innocent people without provocation."
"Yes," replied the being, in the same manner as before. "We do indeed remember what happened."
"Yet you destroy entire planets," spat the Admiral, only peripherally aware that his emotions were threatening to overcome him. "And you come again to destroy another. Must we trade death for death? How many will be enough? How many humans do you have to kill before the ‘justice’ you claim you seek has been meted out?"
The aliens appeared to ponder this for several moments, flickering in unison as they presumably discussed their response. Abruptly the flickering abated, and David thought he sensed an increase in the beings’ luster.
The light-being in the center seemed to float slightly closer as it spoke.
"All of them," it said.
The viewscreen suddenly went black.
Derrico's first novel, Right Ascension, was published in eBook and paperback by Bookbooters Press in 2000, and won the 2000-2001 Bookbooters eBook of the Year award.
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