Read Online Annihilation (Star Force Series) by B. V. Larson - Free Book Online
Authors: B. V. Larson
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keep my guts in place and watch the ticking numbers on the displays.
Red slivers were arcing closer every second. Occasionally, one of them blinked out. But the rate of defensive hits was far too slow. My hopes that the majority of their missiles would be shot down faded. They were quality weapons. Probably, they were spinning and coated with reflective polymers to deflect our lasers. Maybe they even had aerogel mists enveloping them, technology we’d only recently mastered ourselves.
I slammed my fist down on the arm of my stolen chair. Even as I did so, a confused looking lieutenant came into view. She was crawling toward me. I frowned at her, then saw her look up at me in shock. I realized then she must be trying to make it to the chair I was in—her chair.
I waved her away. She turned and crawled out of my sight. My mind wanted to feel bad for her, wanted to wonder if she would survive the next… six minutes , the displays reported…but I didn’t feel bad for her. I didn’t have time.
I had to think. I sucked in a breath and contacted Marvin.
“Marvin!” I shouted.
“Yes, Colonel?”
“Are you aboard this ship?” I demanded.
“What ship, sir?”
“No games, Marvin. Are you on the same ship I am right now?”
“Yes sir, at the moment.”
I felt relief. In general, when Marvin knew or even suspected an attack was coming, he tended to bug out early. Sometimes, very early, before anyone else even knew what was going to happen. The fact that he was still aboard was encouraging. It meant he was just as surprised as I was.
“Marvin, I need you to translate for me. Open a channel to these treacherous Lobsters.”
“They’ve never responded, sir.”
“I don’t care! I know they’ve been listening. Probably, whatever I say will amuse them greatly. But I don’t care about that, either. Open the channel and translate.”
“Channel open.”
I paused to suck in some air, and then I let loose: “To the people of the water-moon under the shadows of my ships, you’re the least honorable of any species I’ve ever encountered. You are cheaters. You are ignorant, and savage. I am a professor among my people. I hereby give you all a failing grade!”
There was no response for several seconds. I’d hoped to elicit some kind of defensive response out of them with my verbal attack. After all, they had no reason to stay quiet now. Their trap had been sprung, and staying quiet no longer benefited them. I also knew they were an arrogant, talkative race that valued academic achievement. Talk of failing grades should sting.
But they didn’t respond. I narrowed my eyes, squinting at the readouts. Less than four minutes left now until their missiles were among us. Four minutes from now, crews would die because I’d screwed up and believed these Lobsters again.
My anger deepened. My next thought was a dark one: I considered bombing their cities. They hadn’t given us any ships to shoot at, but their civilian populations were vulnerable. We knew where they lived in their shallow reefs and deep grottoes. We knew some of them were still alive.
I lifted a fateful hand to press the transmission button again. The crews were waiting for my order to fire. I could feel it in my bones.
But about a second before I gave the order to commit a billion intelligent beings to death, I had another thought.
“Scan those missiles!” I roared. “Has anyone done that? Are there Macros flying those things?”
My thought was simple and horrible. What if the Lobsters themselves, god love the son-a-bitches, weren’t actually attacking us? What if the Macros were behind it all?
I knew the Lobsters weren’t easy to get along with, but I also knew they weren’t suicidal. They must know what we could do to their populations. They would have done the math long ago. I could understand an ambush, but why would they let us get in so close before launching their surprise attack?
Perhaps they hadn’t. If Macros held their
Red slivers were arcing closer every second. Occasionally, one of them blinked out. But the rate of defensive hits was far too slow. My hopes that the majority of their missiles would be shot down faded. They were quality weapons. Probably, they were spinning and coated with reflective polymers to deflect our lasers. Maybe they even had aerogel mists enveloping them, technology we’d only recently mastered ourselves.
I slammed my fist down on the arm of my stolen chair. Even as I did so, a confused looking lieutenant came into view. She was crawling toward me. I frowned at her, then saw her look up at me in shock. I realized then she must be trying to make it to the chair I was in—her chair.
I waved her away. She turned and crawled out of my sight. My mind wanted to feel bad for her, wanted to wonder if she would survive the next… six minutes , the displays reported…but I didn’t feel bad for her. I didn’t have time.
I had to think. I sucked in a breath and contacted Marvin.
“Marvin!” I shouted.
“Yes, Colonel?”
“Are you aboard this ship?” I demanded.
“What ship, sir?”
“No games, Marvin. Are you on the same ship I am right now?”
“Yes sir, at the moment.”
I felt relief. In general, when Marvin knew or even suspected an attack was coming, he tended to bug out early. Sometimes, very early, before anyone else even knew what was going to happen. The fact that he was still aboard was encouraging. It meant he was just as surprised as I was.
“Marvin, I need you to translate for me. Open a channel to these treacherous Lobsters.”
“They’ve never responded, sir.”
“I don’t care! I know they’ve been listening. Probably, whatever I say will amuse them greatly. But I don’t care about that, either. Open the channel and translate.”
“Channel open.”
I paused to suck in some air, and then I let loose: “To the people of the water-moon under the shadows of my ships, you’re the least honorable of any species I’ve ever encountered. You are cheaters. You are ignorant, and savage. I am a professor among my people. I hereby give you all a failing grade!”
There was no response for several seconds. I’d hoped to elicit some kind of defensive response out of them with my verbal attack. After all, they had no reason to stay quiet now. Their trap had been sprung, and staying quiet no longer benefited them. I also knew they were an arrogant, talkative race that valued academic achievement. Talk of failing grades should sting.
But they didn’t respond. I narrowed my eyes, squinting at the readouts. Less than four minutes left now until their missiles were among us. Four minutes from now, crews would die because I’d screwed up and believed these Lobsters again.
My anger deepened. My next thought was a dark one: I considered bombing their cities. They hadn’t given us any ships to shoot at, but their civilian populations were vulnerable. We knew where they lived in their shallow reefs and deep grottoes. We knew some of them were still alive.
I lifted a fateful hand to press the transmission button again. The crews were waiting for my order to fire. I could feel it in my bones.
But about a second before I gave the order to commit a billion intelligent beings to death, I had another thought.
“Scan those missiles!” I roared. “Has anyone done that? Are there Macros flying those things?”
My thought was simple and horrible. What if the Lobsters themselves, god love the son-a-bitches, weren’t actually attacking us? What if the Macros were behind it all?
I knew the Lobsters weren’t easy to get along with, but I also knew they weren’t suicidal. They must know what we could do to their populations. They would have done the math long ago. I could understand an ambush, but why would they let us get in so close before launching their surprise attack?
Perhaps they hadn’t. If Macros held their
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