The Heirs of Earth (Children of Earthrise Book 1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The scorpions had only inched into Concord space.

They had only annexed a single planet—and without shedding a drop of blood.

And within hours, a massive Concord armada was flying their way, determined to crush the invaders.

Caught between both armies, the Heirs of Earth flew through space, heading toward the advancing Concord fleet.

"Are you sure about this, lad?" said Duncan, standing on the bridge of the Jerusalem. "This isn't our fight."

"It is our fight," Emet said, staring at the thousands of Concord warships. "Millions of humans cry out in agony, suffering in Hierarchy space. The scorpions will slay them all. Our people. We must fight them."

Duncan gave his beard a nervous tug. "Emet, the Concord is more than capable of handling the threat. Look at them." He gestured with one of his broad hands. "They have thousands of warships. What help can we possibly offer? We're like a wee hornet volunteering to fight alongside falcons."

"Hornets too can be deadly," Emet said. "We'll do our part in this war."

Duncan was silent for a long moment. Finally he stepped closer and placed a hand on Emet's shoulder. "Laddie, I'm afraid. I don't like to admit it. But I am. I'm afraid we'll lose our fleet. Our warriors. That the Heirs of Earth will perish in this battle. We can leave the Concord and Hierarchy to fight each other. We can sail away. We can seek Earth. That's our mission."

Emet turned to look at his friend. Duncan stood a foot shorter but even broader, and despite his age, he was still strong, his arms so powerful they could topple worlds.

"Duncan, we have only two thousand humans in our ships. It's not enough. Our mission is not only to find Earth, but also to bring Earth's children home. And right now, Earth's children need us here. On the front line. In this war." He clasped his friend's shoulder. "You've fought at my side for thirty years, Dunc. Fight with me now too."

Duncan's eyes warmed, and he tightened his lips.

"Aye, laddie. I'll fight with ya. Even if ya lead us into hell."

Emet gazed ahead. The Concord armada was close now. Their thousands of warships glimmered across space like a field of stars. Several species had come to fight. There were oval, scaled ships that looked like dragon eggs—the ships of the Tarmarins, desert dwellers from Til Shiran. There were fleshy podships, deep purple and gray, built of fungus—the vessels of the Esporians, a race of sentient mushrooms. A few ships were glimmering crystals, most larger than the Jerusalem; they transported the Silicades, a race of intelligent aliens formed of silicon crystals. A handful of ships were formed of cylinders filled with water; inside swam the Gouramis, a race of intelligent fish.

But these strange ships only formed the flanks. The Aelonians, the most powerful race in the Concord, formed the vanguard.

Aelonian starships were leaf-shaped and silvery, beautiful and deadly like ancient daggers. Emet had rarely met Aelonians. They were a mighty race, the central pillar of the Concord, but loath to leave their home system. Their homeworld hosted many famous institutions: Concord Hall, a shimmering glass tower that hosted ambassadors from ten thousand civilizations; the Citadel of Peace, a mighty fortress, headquarters of the Peacekeepers Corp that unified the Concord; the Temple of Memory, a vast library containing the wisdom and cultural heritage of many worlds; the Cosmic Museum, where the secrets of nature and history were preserved; the Botanical Terrarium, containing plants from countless worlds; and many other grand buildings.

The Aelonians were scientists and scholars—but also warriors. Their fleet was vast, their power terrifying.

If any one race can rival the scorpions, it's the Aelonians, Emet thought.

As he flew toward the Concord fleet, Emet worried that they'd open fire on the Heirs of Earth. After all, humans were not a Concord member. They operated outside the law. Emet prepared to reverse and flee.

Several Concord ships turned toward the human fleet, guns extending. Yet they did not attack. Not yet.

The Aelonian flagship flew closer. Letters on its hull named it The Iliria. It was a massive ship, as large as Central Park on old Earth. It hailed the Jerusalem.

Emet looked at the gargantuan alien starship. The Iliria made the Jerusalem seem small and ugly. The Aelonian flagship was shaped like a broad dagger, tapering to a point. It shone like mother of pearl, and its engines emitted white light. It floated like a shard of moonlight.

Emet accepted the call. An Aelonian appeared on his monitor.

"Greetings, Emet Ben-Ari, lord of humans. I am Admiral Melitar, high commander of the Aelonian fleet. In our databases, you are designated as a terrorist linchpin, wanted on many Concord worlds. Why do you approach our armada?"

Some called the Aelonians beautiful, but Emet had always found them unsettling. Their shape was humanoid—relatively rare in a galaxy swarming with giant insects, technologically savvy fish, sentient plants, and living crystals. The Aelonians had two legs, two arms, one head. But there the resemblance to humans ended.

Their skin was transparent, revealing luminous organs and glowing blood. Some animals on Earth, Emet had read, were bioluminescent. Angler fish, for example, attracted prey with a glowing bulb on their heads. The Aelonians had evolved on a dark planet that orbited a red dwarf, a world of perpetual shadows. To compensate, they had evolved to glow. Gazing at this Aelonian, Emet could see its heart beat, its entrails coil, its lungs pump, its blood flow through the veins, all glowing blue, red, and yellow.

"Greetings, Admiral Melitar," Emet said. "I am Admiral Emet Ben-Ari, commander of the Heirs of Earth. We come to offer aid. We wish to join you, to help fight the Hierarchy. I see many civilizations flying with you to war. Let humanity fight too."

The Aelonian considered for a moment. He spoke to his officers, then looked back at Emet. "I will send a shuttle for you. Come board the Iliria. Come alone with no weapons. We will talk."

The transmission died.

A hatch opened on the silvery ship, and a teardrop shuttle emerged. It came flying toward the Jerusalem. Emet placed Thunder and Lightning aside.

Duncan placed a hand on Emet's shoulder. "Are you sure about this, laddie? May I remind you that you're still a wanted terrorist mastermind. At least, according to those walking lava lamps."

Emet smiled thinly. "If they wanted to kill me, Duncan, they could blast us out of space. I'll talk to him."

"Aye, you do that, laddie," Duncan muttered. "Go talk to the shiny buggers. Might want to take sunglasses with ya."

The Aelonian shuttle connected with the Jerusalem's airlock, and Emet boarded the small, silvery vessel.

The shuttle's pilot, a female Aelonian, greeted him.

"Greetings, human! I am Nelitana, pilot of this shuttle." She handed him a glowing glass flower. "I will accompany you to my mothership."

Emet accepted the gift. "Thank you, Nelitana."

Nelitana was taller than him, but slender and graceful. She was also naked. Very naked. The Aelonians believed that nothing should be hidden—not the mind nor the body. Emet could not only see her body. He could see into her body. Her skin was transparent, revealing the glowing organs, her circulatory and nervous system, even her last meal. She seemed made of glass, same as her flower, filled with glowing orbs and liquid light.

"You seem joyous, Admiral Ben-Ari," Nelitana said, flying the shuttle back toward her mothership.

Emet struggled to stifle his smile, cursing Duncan for making him think of walking lava lamps.

"I'm pleased to be welcomed aboard your ship," he said.

Nelitana returned his smile, teeth shining. They reached the Iliria, the Aelonian flagship. The shuttle flew into a hangar, and they stepped out. The air was cool, the gravity light, the shadows deep.

Nelitana accompanied Emet along a dark corridor. The ship had no artificial lights; the Aelonians relied on their own glow. As they walked, Emet saw doorways leading to caverns filled with other Aelonians, but also glowing plants and luminous fish in aquariums. Perhaps they were pets. Perhaps food sources.

They finally reached the bridge, a circular chamber like a planetarium. Monitors covered every surface—the walls, the domed ceiling, even the floor, displaying an image of space all around. Emet could see the stars, the rest of the armada, and his own fleet nearby. It felt like floating through space.

Admiral Melitar, the Aelonian who had hailed the Jerusalem, greeted Emet.

"Welcome aboard the Iliria, Emet! Thank you for joining me on my ship."

Emet bowed his head. "Thank you, Admiral. It's an honor to be your guest."

The admiral was even taller than Nelitana, standing a good eight or nine feet tall. Admirals from other species were here too. A mushroom the size of a tree, deep purple trimmed with white, stood on the bridge. He was an Esporian; his species flew the fleshy pods that hovered outside. There was a white crystal with a thousand shimmering panels. This was a Silicade—a species that communicated by refracting light into meticulous wave lengths and patterns. There was a Gourami that floated in an aquarium, its indigo tendrils swaying. A Tarmarin was rolled up into a scaly ball in the corner, perhaps uninterested in the conversation. Two magnetic balls spun around each other near the back, crackling with electricity; Emet didn't recognize that species.

The giant mushroom puffed out a cloud of spores—its way of speaking. As Emet suppressed a cough, a computer translated the message.

"He is a wanted terrorist!" The Esporian blew another cloud of spores. "With great shivering pleasure, my pods shall decompose his ships of rusting metal."

The living crystal shimmered, refracting light into blue and yellow patterns. A translation computer picked up this language too.

"I agree with the fungus. We Silicades are beings of order, and humans are creatures of chaos, wanderers with no home of their own. An abomination. Let us sear them away, then return their energy and atoms to the cosmos, before we continue on to sear the Skra-Shen."

Emet faced the crystal. He raised his chin.

"How many scorpions have you killed before?" he said, and the crystal was silent. Emet turned toward the fungus next. "And you? How many of their ships have your pods destroyed?" The mushroom too remained silent, and Emet nodded. "I thought so. But I have fought the scorpions many times. My people have been fighting them for years. We have destroyed their ships, slain them in battle. We have video footage to prove it. The footage does not merely prove the worth of humanity in battle. It also shows Skra-Shen battle formations, tactics, weapons, intelligence you should study before the battle. You need us. More than we need you. We've not flown here to be insulted but to fight. To fight at your side. To—"

Admiral Melitar raised his hand. "Admiral Ben-Ari."

Emet turned toward the Aelonian and bowed his head. "If I misspeak, Admiral, it's out of passion, not pride."

The glowing alien knelt, bringing himself to eye level with Emet. "I know what many in the Concord say of humans. I know they mock humanity for lacking a homeworld. I know that your people have suffered oppression and hardship. I am not unsympathetic to the cause of humanity. While many scorn your people, I have found humans to be intriguingly earnest, capable even of nobility." The others on the bridge scoffed, but the Aelonian continued. "Do you truly wish to fight? It is likely that many of your ships will not return."

Emet nodded. "We humans have never shied away from sacrifice. Millions of my people suffer in Hierarchy lands. The scorpions have been slaughtering them. Harvesting their skin. This is a war all humans will fight."

"See how the humans are bloodthirsty!" said the Tarmarin, finally unfurling. "How they crave war and bloodshed!"

Melitar raised a hand. "He is concerned for his people, General! He is no different from you or me."

The scaly alien sputtered. "A pest? No different from us?"

"Does he not care for his young?" said Melitar. "Does he not yearn for his homeworld?"

"Homeworld?" The other aliens laughed. "The humans have no homeworld."

"We do!" said Emet. "We come from a world called Earth. A world across the galaxy, on the edge of Concord space. A world we were exiled from. We've been lost for thousands of years, but we yearn to return home." He looked at the Aelonian admiral. "We will prove humanity's worth in this war. In return, grant us safe passage to Earth. Acknowledge Earth as the homeworld of humanity, and accept us again into the alliance of nations. Name us a Concord species. You will find us valuable and noble partners."

The aliens all looked at one another.

Finally the Silicade spoke. "We could use their intelligence."

The mushroom scoffed. "I suppose they are valuable fodder."

At that moment, Emet was glad Duncan wasn't there. The doc would threaten to chop up the Esporian and serve him on a pizza. And if Duncan's daughter were here—the wild Mairead McQueen—she would likely already be aiming her pistol.

Melitar nodded to Emet. "Fight with us, humans, and if we win this war, I will convey your request to my superiors. The request of an admiral is not easily dismissed. I will do my best to grant you a stage at Concord Hall, where you may speak of your people's hardships and dreams, of your yearning for Earth. The greatest leaders in the galaxy will hear your plea."

"That's all I can ask for," Emet said.

"But know, Emet Ben-Ari, that this war will be long and hard, and perhaps we will not survive. Even should we win this battle, it is likely the first of many. The Hierarchy is mighty, and for years, it has been arming for war. It is possible that the entire Concord, this great gathering of civilizations, will not withstand the fire. Perhaps Concord Hall will no longer stand when you're ready to speak there. All peaceful, wise civilizations are now in peril."

"Then truly we must all fight together," said Emet. "I'll return to my ship now. We'll reach Terminus within an hour. I'll prepare for battle."

Melitar held out his hand, palm raised, and Emet placed his own hand upon it.

"Fight for Earth," said the Aelonian, "but also for all civilization. A shadow falls across the galaxy. May we cast it back with light."