Storm' Fury: The Shenkar War (18 page)

              The past year had truly been enlightening for Shizta, he wondered if he would be able to take anymore “eye opening” revelations. This brought Shizta’s thoughts again to the elite that lay upon the bed. If this one known as “
Ghost
” was able to slaughter the entire crew of a battlecruiser then he surely could kill an elite. The question was how many elites would it take to kill the human he had just spoken to? Another question is what if the rest of the humans fought just as ferociously as him? If this were the case then the Shenkar Federation could be facing annihilation. Shizta shivered at the thought as a sick knotted feeling grew within his stomach. In all of Shizta’s life he had never felt so helpless and alone as he did it this moment….a new feeling he did not like in the slightest.

December 26
th
, 2013 1:03pm

                                     EDF
Kraken
, Terran system, high Earth orbit

              Liam watched as the admiral spoke with President Sheehan and Prime Minister Denshire. He had a nagging suspicion that he was the subject of their conversation, or at least partly, as on several occasions one or more of the men would glance his way. Liam began to get an uneasy feeling that they were going to ask him to do something. So engrossed in his thoughts he didn’t notice that Evan was speaking to him until Evan gave him a light back handed cuff to his shoulder. Taking his eyes off the three men he then turned his attention to Evan.

              “Yes?”

              “I asked if you ever thought that little speech would ever come back to haunt you?”

              “What speech?”

              “You know….the whole storm speech the Shenkar referred to.”

              “Oh,” Liam said but didn’t elaborate any further.

              After several quiet seconds Evan cleared his voice, an obvious indicator he was still waiting for a more understanding answer. Liam looked once again at the three men before he turned back to Evan.

              “I never really thought about it actually, I was sort of caught up in the moment. The thought of someone coming to hurt the ones I loved just because we were intelligent life forms. The anger just bubbled up and I reacted, I didn’t really think over what I was saying.”

              “Intelligent life forms? Clearly you haven’t been to the mall on a Sunday afternoon,” Evan said, shuddering to add to the effect.

              Liam smiled at his friend’s comment but didn’t say anything further. Evan looked at Liam for a few seconds, his eyes narrowing slightly.

              “You okay?” Evan finally asked.

              Liam sighed as reached up and ran a hand across the back of his neck.

              “It was just that conversation I had with Shizta. It made me think of my time aboard the
Tryliene
. It isn’t a memory I really like reliving if you get what I mean.”

              “Yeah, I can imagine you wouldn’t, but you can always look at the positive side of it.”

              Liam frowned as he looked over at Evan.

              “What positive side can you possibly be thinking of?” asked Liam, the sarcasm in his voice clear.

              “Well from the looks of it you scare the crap out of the Shenkar. I figure we could just drop you on their home planet, announce who you are and they will all surrender or drop dead of heart attacks,” said Evan, a broad smile across his face.

              This time Liam laughed out loud at the sincerity that had been present in Evan’s voice.

              “So Crystal and I were wondering if you would be the godfather?”

              Liam looked back over his friend, not sure he had heard correctly.

              “What was that?”

              “Well Crystal and I were talking and we were wondering if you would be the godfather of our kid.”

              Liam didn’t even need to think this over; he would do anything for his friends.

              “I would be honored,” said Liam, smiling broadly.

              “Cool, cool,” Evan said, then after a moment added, a bit uncomfortably. “Do you think Leah would be the godmother?”

              “I don’t know, most likely, but I think you would need to ask her.”

              “Yeah I suppose you’re right…don’t suppose you want to ask her?”

              Liam laughed at his friend’s obvious discomfort.

              “Afraid of her?” inquired Liam.

              “Nah, she likes to mess with me….I never know when she is joking.”

              “So? When she does that I just give it right back to her.”

              “Yeah, easy for you to say, you are better than her with a plasma sword. She, on the other hand, is better than me and damn near as good as you. She is like a rabid ferret with a plasma sword.”

              Liam laughed again but really couldn’t disagree with Evan. Evan was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke again.

              “You ever going to marry that girl? You both are retarded for each other so what is the problem?”

              Liam didn’t answer at first as the question had taken him off guard.

              “Actually with all the excitement I forgot to tell you. I already asked her to marry me and she accepted. We just need to pick a date….probably going to be after she graduates so let’s keep this between us for now.”

              Evan didn’t say anything, for once he was speechless. He just stood there with his mouth hanging open, a shocked look upon his face.

              “Wow, who would have thought that was all it would take to stun you into silence,” said Liam, a mock look of shock upon his face.

              This seemed to cause Evan to recover. Crossing his arms across his chest, at the same time he snorted, trying to look and sound insulted. After a few moments Evan couldn’t fight it anymore and his face broke into broad smile.

              “That’s awesome, glad to hear everything is working out. Can I tell Crystal?”

              “Yeah sure, just make sure it stays between us. I am an instructor after all and I don’t want anyone to think I am favoring her.”

              “Yeah sure, that’s cool…hey, you know who is gonna be jealous?”

              “Who?” asked Liam.

              “Leah’s arch nemesis, Alyssa Birchette. You know the one that clearly has a thing for you.”

              “You’re imagining things, she doesn’t have a thing for me,” Liam said, clearly uncomfortable at the possibility.

              “Uh-huh, you keep telling yourself that,” Evan said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

              Liam was about to retort when he noticed Admiral Kelvin approaching.

              Both Liam and Evan snapped to attention.

              “Oh at ease, you two should know by now that when we are alone it’s just Liam, Evan and Frank. Although I have to say it is nice to see how you have both adapted to the military lifestyle even though you guys are still technically contracted.”

              Relaxing, Liam nodded his head towards the lone ensign to indicate they were not alone. Admiral Kelvin glanced at the ensign then back to Liam and Evan.

              “Oh, I seriously doubt he will say anything, looks to me he is trying to remain as invisible as possible. I doubt he will say anything to bring himself any attention.”

              “Well, okay then, Frankie,” Evan said jokingly.

              Admiral Kelvin gave Evan a flat look that clearly said if he used that name again he would regret it. Evan wilted slightly under the admiral’s stare and he quickly spoke.

              “Uh…I was just kidding around, Admiral Kelvin.”

              Admiral Kelvin continued his flat stare for a few more moments before his face split into a wide grin.

              “I know, Evan, but don’t call me that again or I will have to assign you to janitorial duties.”

              “Uh…yes sir,” said Evan, apprehensively.

              Satisfied he had made his point he nodded and changed the subject.

              “So back to the earlier subject, the
Templars
will serve in the officer capacity within the
Praetorian Guard
for any ground or ship-based assaults until the new batch of officers we select can be trained up. We will still need you for fighter protection but I will try to limit that to dire circumstances. There is another reason for me wanting you with the guard. Recovery teams recently unlocked some information that is rather disturbing. It seems the Shenkar have their own form of
Templar Knights
that are referred to as
Elites
. We don’t know exactly how tough these Shenkar are but if they can beat the cloned warriors easily then they could potentially be a problem.”

              “Maybe we can get some information out of our friend back there,” Evan said as he nodded his head back toward Shizta’s cell.

              Admiral Kelvin thought this over for a few moments before he snapped his fingers and smiled.

              “That would be an excellent idea, Evan, and I know just the guy to do it.”

              Liam didn’t like the way the admiral said that, which was quickly confirmed when the admiral turned to him and gave a smile that reminded him of the Cheshire cat in
Alice in Wonderland
.

              “Liam I believe you could potentially unlock what is going on within Shizta. Just in your brief conversation I witnessed two things I never expected. One, when Shizta first saw you it was clear there was fear in his eyes and from what I have heard the Shenkar don’t experience fear. Two, during your conversation with him you seemed to sew doubt in his mind about his own outdated beliefs. I want you to continue your conversations with him, daily, if possible. Perhaps we will be able to learn more about the Shenkar and perhaps a weakness that we will be able to exploit. Any information we can learn could be useful. I know you had a horrible experience with the Shenkar when you were captured aboard the
Tryliene
but this could help immensely. I could order it but that just isn’t my style. So will you do it?”

              Liam understood the reasoning behind what the admiral was asking but it still didn’t make it any easier. Rarely a night went by where he didn’t relive in his dreams what happened aboard the
Tryliene
. Of late, the dreams had lessened, ever since he began talking with Milton Johansin.

              The elderly scientist had sought Liam out roughly a month ago asking not for more tests but simply for Liam to have dinner with him a couple times a week. During those dinners Milton had confessed his need for some normality. He had explained he had spent his life dedicated to his work. He never took the time to live and now life had passed him by. Milton had confessed how he regretted never marrying or never having children. He confessed that in a way he had come to think of Liam as a son and in some odd sense Liam was. Milton had been the lead scientist in the
Templar
knight program so technically speaking he had created Liam. Funny thing is over the past month Liam’s affection for the elderly man had grown into something of what a son would feel for a father. At least that was how Liam interpreted it. In truth, Liam’s own father had passed away when he was a young boy so it was hard for him to remember how he had felt.

              “I will understand if you choose not to but please weigh all the options before you make your decision.”

              Shaken from his thoughts Liam looked at the admiral and nodded that he understood him but before he could answer Evan spoke.

              “Hey, if you want I could talk to Shizta instead.”

              Liam smiled at Evan’s offer but knew immediately that wouldn’t be a good idea.

              “No offense Evan but we are trying to create good relations not escalate the war more. If you were to talk with Shizta I think he would probably kill himself before accidently divulging any useful information,” Liam said sarcastically.

              Evan looked up at the ceiling as he made a disgusted noise in his throat. Liam smiled at his friend’s affronted look but continued to stare at him and say nothing. He had known Evan long enough to know that this was all just an act. Continuing to keep his face turned towards the ceiling he glanced Liam’s way and finally his demeanor broke. A smiled forced its way across his face until finally he broke out into laughter.

              “Okay maybe you are right on that point but I was just trying to help.”

              Smiling Liam turned his attention towards the admiral.