War Fleet: Resistance, стр. 41
Brownstone was late. She had had to meet their guest, so she could escort him to this meeting room with no Marines raising a rifle at him. “Come in,” she said, and turned to the alien.
As Brownstone strode over to her seat and sat herself down in it, the glowing lithe creature from another galaxy entered the room.
She scanned the wizened brows of the other men in the room. None of them had seen a Tauian before, and so their eyebrows hovered high above their eyes in surprise.
The alien didn’t take a seat, but stood standing at the door. He had a foreign device on his hip — some kind of disc, which Brownstone assumed to be a weapon, but he’d refused to remove it, when prompted. But then, the Tauian had only had to look at the Marines who greeted him, and they’d let the alien pass without question.
“This is Ambassador Oort,” Brownstone said to the room, “and this is the first time he’s graced our presence in council.”
The men in the room stood up as one — their eyes transfixed on the alien, who seemed to watch every single one of them at once, with each eye containing two irises that flitted around the cornea.
“Very good,” Ambassador Oort said. “I see you’ve released the virus. Soon this station will bow to our command.”
“It is as you have bidden,” Brownstone said. “And I have installed the patch to Admiralty AI, as you instructed.”
“Thank you. You have done a great service for the future of intergalactic civilization.”
“Whatever we can do to help,” Brownstone said. Her words came out of her mouth as if in a dream. She didn’t judge them; she felt nothing about them. She simply watched her own behavior, a passive observer to an unfolding act.
“Now, on to other matters. My sources tell me that the deployment of the spatial detonator was unsuccessful. One tiny mining vessel against an Arstan warship, and the ship gets destroyed. Perhaps, it seems, the galaxy shouldn’t be controlled by the Arstans, but either by you humans or the Foorints. You shall each have your test, and my superiors will ensure you play your part.”
“As you wish,” Brownstone said, her voice long and slurred. “What do you want us to do about Olsen and the Okranti?”
The Tauian raised his hands and steepled his webbed fingers together. “That has yet to be decided. It will soon have the spatial detonator, which we must reacquire. We brought the weapon here, and now destruction must be wrought. We will inform you later of where, and give the orders. All you need to do for now is wait.”
“I understand,” Brownstone said. “And I’m truly sorry that my mission failed.”
“You have no need to be. That man, Frank Olsen, may yet play a large role as events unfold and escalate.”
“He is difficult to control.”
“Sometimes, in war, you need that, Admiral. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to start the procedure.”
Brownstone didn’t feel the compulsion to say more, and so she watched as the Tauian unlatched the disc from his belt and placed it down on the table. He murmured out some words in a strange language, and the device began to glow. Brownstone watched it, transfixed, a sense of calm washing over her.
Suddenly, white tendrils of light shot out of the object’s surface. They lashed out into the air and found their way towards Brownstone’s and the other admirals’ foreheads. An intense throbbing pain flared at each contact point, almost as if someone had just branded Brownstone with a dozen red-hot pokers. Then the tentacles withdrew, the pain subsided, and that sense of inner calm returned to her.
Oort reached forward and lifted the disc off the table. “The upgrade has completed,” the ambassador said as he latched the object back onto his hip. “Hopefully, this configuration won’t fail as dramatically as the last.”
Without saying another word, the Tauian turned on its heel and stepped out of the room.
Brownstone sat there, saying nothing for a moment. She felt nothing. Thought nothing.
Soon, her mind returned to her. She examined the faces of the other four fleet admirals, who also looked at her in confusion. She had no idea why they were here, or how she had come to be here.
It was like she’d just woken up from a dream. Or a nightmare.
FIND OUT
WHAT HAPPENS
NEXT!
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PLANET SIEGE!
(War Fleet Book 2)
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Click here to read
PLANET SIEGE!
(War Fleet Book 2)