than to hope. There would be a slaughter of the planet, and death would come from the bomber hovering above the city.
As people packed into the spaceport, its body filling with those who had run across the length of the city searching for escape, the bomber turned slowly in the sky, taking up station above the port. On the bottom of its sleek form, two doors slid open, exposing the black depths inside. With no more than a whisper, a pair of glowing orbs dropped from the ship, blue and purple plasma swirling within their core. As they fell deceptively slowly toward the planet’s surface, a thick ion trail followed in their wake, trailing a colorful menagerie of released energy. Engines whined to life along the spaceport, pilots eager to skip as much of their pre-flight checks as possible in their hurry. But none of the ships were quick enough to escape the two falling plasma bombs.
After striking the top of the spaceport, the bombs unleashed unholy energy. The port exploded outward, its debris shattering through the glass walls of the tall towers in the center of the city. Explosion after explosion rocked the port as the ships along its reaching arms ignited in the inferno. From the center of the explosion, a shockwave erupted. Out of town, trees were blown from their roots and rock formations crumbled under the assault. Inside the city, the devastation was much worse.
The shockwave rolled rapidly through town, not slowing at all as it leveled all the stone structures and warehouses closest to the spaceport. The thousands that died in those buildings had barely enough time to release a unified scream of terror before their existence was erased from the universe. As the wave rolled on, people closer to the center of town fled as ceilings collapsed on those indoors while the unlucky ones still on the streets were torn apart by stones and shards of wood as booths and carts that lined the street were transformed into flying instruments of death.
Within the hotel, Keryn and her crew dove for cover as the shockwave hit their building. The windows exploded inward and the air itself was replaced with a reverberating angry roar of unleashed power. The walls shook and pieces of the ceiling collapsed, smashing through the sofa and destroying the end table that had held the bloodied scalpel. They covered their ears as the sound of ripping stone erupted from the back room. The insulated wooden door that separated the rooms rattled as though possessed as the firestorm rolled over them.
Though it seemed like an eternity to Keryn, the door slowly quit rattling and a strange silence permeated the room. She took her hands from her ears and shook the dust from her hair and face. Her once tan body was coated with a pale white film; the air itself was full of the vaporized stone and wood, a direct result of the destruction of half the city. Glancing around, she let out a sigh of relief as Adam pushed his way from underneath a slab of the ceiling. A black-clawed hand burst forth from the ruined sofa on the far side of the room and Penchant, looking worse for wear, drug himself from the wreckage.
Laboring for breath, Keryn looked them both over. “Is everyone…” She was overcome with a coughing fit, her lungs struggling to take in oxygen amidst the thick particles in the air. Recovering, she tried to continue. “Is everyone okay?”
Neither Penchant nor Adam replied, both content to simply nod in agreement. Blood flowed freely from the reopened wound on Adam’s arm, the gunshot wound not even given a chance to heal before being torn again in the explosion. Keryn had never had much luck figuring out the physiology of the Lithids. Penchant looked no different than before, save the dust that clung to his body. But his movements seemed jerked and unstable, so she had to assume that he had not made it through the explosion unscathed, regardless of his tough exoskeleton.
Adam moved toward the door leading into the back room, his hand held over his face in an attempt to keep out the pollutants in the air. Leaning his hand against the wall, he pulled on the door but to no avail. The heat from the explosion had swollen the wood, jamming the door into its frame. Stepping back, Adam assumed a fighting stance before striking forward with his foot. The wooden door splintered on its hinges, hinges that were partially melted in the blast. The entire door collapsed inward, allowing Adam a surprising view of the city. He glanced around uncertainly. The walls and ceiling had all been torn free, finally resting somewhere further within the city. Only the thin floor remained, though even a section of the floor was missing. More importantly was what had previously been firmly attached to that section of floor.
Adam turned away from the destroyed back room. “Cardax is gone,” he said weakly. “Gone for good, if I had to take a guess at it.”
Keryn nodded, her vision blurry and eyes stinging as sweat pulled the plaster and dust into her eyes. Wiping them ineffectually with the back of her hand, she walked toward the balcony door. Pulling on the handle, she had to jump hurriedly out of the way as the door, frame, and part of the wall collapsed into the room. Stepping onto the gaping hole, she peered out into the ruins of the once beautiful city. In the center of town, the once proud emerald spires lay in ruins. The metal girders that had once held the towers aloft now jutted from their remains like rib cages of an animal graveyard. Fires burned freely from a multitude of structures, their flames leaping high into the artificial night.
Looking the other way, Keryn let tears flow freely from her eyes as she witnessed the decimation that had occurred when the two plasma bombs struck the lower city. Even through the thick smoke and debris, Keryn could make out the outline of a massive crater; a crater that took the lives of everyone within the once tall space port. The land around the crater was cleared of debris. Not even the foundations of buildings could be seen from where she stood and the ground itself looked smooth, as though the intense heat had turned the ground to glass. She cried for all those who lost their lives; even those who were criminals and smugglers had deserved a better fate than this. But she cried most of all for the sounds that reached her ears: cries of those wounded, their limbs removed or pierced by debris. They cried out in a rising crescendo of pain and suffering. They begged for help and aid. They cried out for their loved ones who were dead or missing. Their cries fell on deaf ears.
Adam and Penchant joined her on the balcony. Even the guardrail that she had leaned against only a few minutes before was gone now, replaced by a warped metal interpretation of modern art. Looking toward the sky, Adam’s shoulders fell in defeat. Following his vision, Keryn saw the thick, box-shaped ships descending toward the surface. The troop transports from the Terran destroyer in orbit made their landing on the glassy surface outside the crater and, even from their distance, the trio watched wave after wave of Terran soldiers march off in organized military order.
Small fighters still scurried overhead, destroying what remained of those who tried to escape the planet. Other fighters shot off into the distance, searching the areas beyond the cities for survivors and those who tried to escape. The Terrans gave no quarter and had no mercy for anyone on the planet, whether Interstellar Alliance or merely civilian traders. The Terran destroyer sat in orbit, its ships patrolled the skies, and Terran soldiers now marched through the streets.
In less than thirty minutes, Othus had fallen to the Terrans.
CHAPTER 12:
Slipping a white silk shirt over his head and tightening the belt on his black hide pants, Yen turned toward the kitchen and retrieved the meal he had prepared earlier. He stared at the food, not sure if Scyant would be impressed with his attempt at culinary perfection, but he hoped it would be good enough to set the mood. Placing the food on either side of the table, he lit the two candles that stood in a candelabrum. The flickering candles accentuated the low lighting in the room. No sooner had he stood back to survey the evenings preparations then he heard a faint knock at the door. He walked to the door, taking a deep breath. Yen was surprised at the amount of nervousness he felt as he went to welcome Scyant to his home.
As the door slid open, Yen’s breath caught in his throat. Scyant’s dark hair had been pinned on top of her head, tendrils of which cascaded over her neck and shoulders like a fountain. Her blue dress, which clung tightly to her athletic body, accentuated the curves of her small but firm breasts and complimented both her tattoos and her burning eyes. Scyant’s scent filled his nostrils, a perfume that reminded Yen of distant oceans crashing against intimate beaches.
Ignoring the desire he felt for the attractive Wyndgaart, Yen motioned inside. “Please, come in.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. She seemed sheepish compared to the strong woman who had stood defiantly before Merric earlier that day. She stepped inside and, as she passed, Yen admired the large tattoo of a predatory bird splayed across her back. She turned to him once inside, her eyes seeming nervous and hesitant.
