arm, wielding it like a club.
As the only human within many miles succumbed, he saw the scarf covering the mech’s face slip away due to the heaving effort it undertook. The steel orbs behind the scarf stared down with a burning intensity.
Soon, the walls of the Megwit’s office were slick with blood and shreds of flesh, and the wretched operator knew no more.
Two
On another world several lightyears away from Ignis Glace, a Nexus Senator worked late into the evening. Neu Schweitz was the third planet from the star Kale, the same position as was held by Old Earth in the Sol system. It was however, a smaller world than Earth and heavily-cratered. Due to natural biomass growth and heavy erosion from frequent storms, these craters took the form of thousands of sharp, striking mountains intermixed with vibrantly green, circular valleys. There were many cold, black lakes between the towering peaks, often as deep and dark as they were wide.
Lucas Droad’s desk sat atop a skyscraper in the capitol city of the Neu Schweitz colony, the seat of local government presiding over a handful of nearby star systems. He remained in his office long after the majority of high government officials had left for their homes, favorite nightclubs or the beds of underlings who sought advancement. He was that rarest of individuals: a tireless, visionary politician.
It had been fifteen months since the star-hauler Gladius had departed from the Kale star system, following its prelaid course for Ignis Glace. Aboard that ship were aliens more dangerous than those encountered anywhere else in human history. Since their departure, Droad had never considered relaxing and reaping rewards from his role in driving the aliens out of the Kale system.
No, Droad had not wasted those fifteen months gloating and doing commercial vids. Instead, he’d managed to parlay his heroic part in defending the Nexus against the alien invaders into a Senate seat. His incumbent rivals had attempted to paint him as a grasping bystander who sought to take credit for the efforts of his betters-or worse, as a man who’d brought doom with him wherever he traveled in the Faustian Chain. Although there was some truth to this latter claim, the people had seen through the rhetoric and voted for Droad. They’d seen him as the sole herald of the approaching danger, and sent him to high office rather than reelecting those who’d sought to ignore him.
Droad’s meteoric rise in political popularity had not been matched by successes in his personal life, however. Sarah Engstrom had left him for Aldo, and he’d subsequently taken up with Ensign Tolbert. Unfortunately, Tolbert’s infatuation with an older, extremely busy and driven man had faded quickly. Within a few months, he was alone again. He’d thrown himself into his work as usual, and managed to get warning transmissions out to planets in every direction-even to Old Earth itself, a world no one had heard from in nearly a century.
A little over a year after the aliens had been defeated in the Kale system, Droad called upon an old friend for a visit. He called Aldo Moreno. The man came that very morning, as he’d been residing in the capitol city near the Nexus headquarters. Droad had known this, but hadn’t expected such a rapid response.
Aldo appeared at the doorway as it dissolved away with a shimmer. He was of Swiss-Italian descent, as were many on Neu Schweitz. His hair and eyes were dark and thoughtful. His large nose tended to tilt high into the air when he was annoyed.
“Fancy door,” Aldo commented. “May I come in?”
“By all means,” Droad responded, providing a politician’s automatic smile.
Aldo stepped inside and inspected the office. He whistled in appreciation, toeing the rich carpet that was over an inch deep. He thumbed the tail feathers of a stuffed rook he found hanging near the corner window, which offered a panoramic view of the capitol city far below.
“A real bird and a real window?” he asked.
Droad nodded. Droad’s eyes slid to the dueling sword at Aldo’s side then back up to the man’s face. Aldo had the eyes of a calculating killer, but Droad considered the man to be a valuable friend.
“Why did you summon me here, Senator?” Aldo asked, turning his attention again to the stuffed bird. Although the natives of Neu Schweitz’s cantons called them rooks-and they were black-feathered birds-they were not the same species that flew upon Old Earth. They were far larger, being nearly a meter tall in some cases. They were quiet birds, as well. They did not twitter and squawk. Instead-they stared. Today, this dead rook stared down at the two men from its timeless perch. Aldo tapped at one black, reptilian foot thoughtfully.
“I needed to speak with you about a serious matter, Aldo.”
“Is this about Sarah? I left her some time ago. You may not have heard.”
“Yes, I know,” Droad said.
“Is it about my dueling, then? I’ve taken care to keep kills to the minimum and my records will show every instance of a disagreement has been documented and witnessed.”
“Meticulously,” Droad murmured.
Aldo spun around and stared at the Senator intently. “You didn’t have a hand in getting me out of that misunderstanding in the tavern, did you?”
Droad smiled more broadly. “What you suggest is absurd. I’m a simple servant of the people. I would no more abuse my power unethically than would any other Senator of the Nexus.”
“Of course,” Aldo said with a tiny snort. He smiled for the first time. “And thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Okay then, if it isn’t a legal matter, or Sarah-why am I here?”
“Because I need you, Aldo.”
“An unusual admission for anyone.”
“Nevertheless, it’s true.”
Aldo squinted at Droad, as if peering into the other man’s mind. His eyes suddenly widened in alarm. “Not them? They’ve shown up again?”
Droad raised a hand to calm his friend. “No. Not exactly. Not yet. But I’m sure the aliens will do so- somewhere.”
Aldo shook his head and gestured for Droad to speak further.
“I’ve been busy, Aldo.”
“With the Senate and the transmitted warnings, yes. I’ve heard and I approve. I voted for you, you know. Even though I had to tap your name into the search field to do it.”
“Thanks. But I’m not talking about warnings. I don’t think they go far enough. I’ve made other- arrangements.”
Aldo squinted at him again. “Arrangements? That could only mean a ship. I haven’t heard anything about a ship.”
Droad nodded, impressed that he had jumped to the correct conclusion so quickly. Aldo was a sharp man. “Privately, I’ve worked in secret on several critical plans that have gone further than transmitting warnings to endangered human colonies. And yes, I’ve managed to get a ship built. It’s ready to leave tonight.”
Aldo was at a loss for words. Then a look of calculation swept over him. He nodded as if having divined Droad’s true purposes. The performance was so convincing, Droad wondered if he actually had seen more deeply than had been intended.
“This is about Sarah after all,” Aldo said at last. “I see it clearly now. You get me out of a misunderstanding with the law, then request a favor. As a result, I’m sent off on a decade-long fool’s errand, where hopefully I meet with some unfortunate accident in space. Elaborate, Droad. I had no idea you cared so deeply for her. Well, let me assure you, this ruse is unnecessary. I was infatuated with the woman for months, just as you were. But I have many personality flaws, and one of them includes an inability to maintain a relationship-”
Droad finally stopped Aldo’s speech, waving away his words as if they hung in the air between them. He stepped forward and reached out a hand. Reluctantly, suspiciously, Aldo clasped the offered hand with his own and they shook hands.
“No, Aldo,” Droad said. “I’m not sending you away for my own convenience. In fact, I’ll miss you and I’m
