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Chapter Sixteen
Weapons Commander Jado of Kila’s spyship grimaced at the devastation. He had seen the dead outside the labs, strewn like leaves over the ground. It was much worse inside the building.
While the corpses outside had seemed to have simply died suddenly in the act of walking around, the scientists hadn’t passed so peacefully. It was as if the entire population had gone insane, gouging and cutting each other using whatever sharp implements had been on hand. A few had been strangled rather than stabbed.
Strangely, it appeared to have been an agreed-upon massacre. None of the lab instruments or apparatuses had been knocked over or damaged. He had the sick image of Bi’isils standing calmly while their fellows sliced their throats and abdomens open or wrapped their fingers around their necks, the executions continuing until only a couple were left to cut their own throats.
A tech from the spyship’s engineering department approached him as he and two others finished exploring one of the many rooms. “I went through their computer mainframe, Weapons Commander.”
“You finished so quickly?”
“There was no data to retrieve. Everything’s been wiped…the individual units, the central processor…empty.” The tech shrugged. “It’s like a newly installed system, never used.”
Jado’s com went off. He saw Terig’s frequency and waved off the tech to answer. “Go for Jado.”
“I’m in the planetary defense facility. My team just reported from the sites they’re investigating, including the headquarters of government affairs. Still no one alive. There’s more: every computer system we’ve checked has been erased of all data. We can’t find a damned thing where documentation of any sort exists.”
“Got it. Continue the assignment.”
“Copy.”
Jado clicked to the ship’s frequency. A few seconds later, Captain Kila answered. “What have you found?”
“No one is alive in either location, whether by their own hands or by an unknown weapon. All computer records have been completely expunged. I recommend available shuttles from both ships do a fly-sweep of the entire planet to locate anyone who’s left.”
“That would take at least a week. You think the entire population is dead?” Kila’s disbelief rang loud.
Jado could hardly believe it himself, not intellectually. However, his gut told him something else entirely. “It might be a good idea to broadcast a message for survivors to come out for rescue…but I wouldn’t expect to get an answer.”
* * * *
Kila’s spyship
Kila, Nako, and their executive staffs met on the spyship three days after the first landing party had performed its investigation. The shuttle sweeps continued, searching for signs of life on Bi’is. They had days of searching for survivors to go yet, but the formerly most-populated areas had been diligently investigated. It was swiftly becoming clear the Bi’isils, like their computers, had been utterly purged.
“Nuclear explosions and neurotoxins released into the atmosphere finished most of them. City-killer war machines took out a lot. Armed drones and AI-controlled weaponry were used on the least populated areas. Mass murders and suicides cleared the rest.” Terig read off the means of death from the hovering holoscreen over the conference table.
“We’ve detected no power signatures to indicate pockets of life might still exist.” Nako sighed. “If it was the Darks, they were damned thorough. They didn’t miss a trick.”
Lokmi looked at them worriedly. “I keep thinking about Admiral Tranis collapsing after we reached the station orbiting Earth. How his symptoms matched those of the crew of the second spyship.”
Kila swallowed the burning tide of bile climbing up his throat. “We have to assume at least one of those things stowed away on my vessel and is currently on Alpha Space Station. We’re talking major trouble tracking it down since all we’ve got is Ensign Ilid and his weird ability to detect the Darks from the corners of his eyes.”
Dr. Zo reminded him, “He heard that conversation between his ship’s doctor and Captain Abgi. At least one percent of the personnel were discovered to have the ability. Others can detect them too. If we can learn why certain people can see them, we can better search for them.”
“There’s also the Galactic Council inspectors who showed up on Bi’is after you left your surveillance, Captain Kila,” Nako said. “Do we assume they were…infected, for lack of a better term?”
Kila had already turned the matter over in his head. “I see no choice but to believe it might be the case, if only to better protect the empire. The whys and wherefores are above my paygrade, however. The sticky part becomes, with whom can we discuss it at the GC? How can we warn them when the people we might talk to could have a Dark hitched onto him or her?”
“It sounds as if the spy contingent of the fleet will be very busy in the coming weeks.”
“No shit.” Kila liked a good fight, but the images of billions of dead Bi’isils wouldn’t leave his mind. The unknown aliens had somehow wiped out an entire technologically sophisticated civilization in a matter of days.
If the Darks made it to Kalquor…
There’s at least one on the space station I left Hope and Piras on. Where the fuck did it end up? Who is it riding right now?
“I’ll send a report to Admiral Piras detailing our concerns the Darks have reached the space station orbiting Earth and the Galactic Council. We’ll finish our sweeps, then get the hell out of here.” He smiled tightly at Nako. “As long as Ensign Ilid clears the last of the away teams, you’re free to resume your pre-assigned mission once we’ve completed our task here.” He glanced at Lokmi. “My ship will return to its home dock, the space station. We’ll learn what’s happening there and hope like hell we can stop these bastards in their tracks.”
