Nathan Hystad: The Survivors: Books 1-3

The ship must have been huge, because there were at least twenty drop ships inside the hangar, and a full hundred or so warriors stood there, suited up and ready for battle. I felt like a fool wearing an oversized Bhlat servant’s robe, but at the end of the day, I didn’t really care what they thought of me. I only wanted to get my friends and leave.

The group of Bhlat separated, making a path for us to walk out of the large room. The hair on the back of my neck rose as I moved forward, leaving dozens of armed soldiers at my back. I waited for the feeling of a pulse blast ripping through me, but it didn’t come.

We exited through a cold metal slab of a door, the two guards from the ship still leading the way. I wanted to look around, to see the inside of a great warship from one of the universe’s most deadly races, but I kept my eyes forward, watching the back of the Empress’ head as we passed groups of gawking Bhlat. Here we found Bhlat in normal uniforms, men only slightly taller than humans, and women of all sizes. A ship this size wasn’t housed by warriors and guns alone.

“Where’s Blel?” I asked the Empress, who shrugged.

“They’re taking us to him now,” she said, her posture stronger and straighter than it had been since we’d first met.

We moved slowly down a couple of wide hallways. Some people shouted out to the Empress; others kneeled when whispers about who she was reached their ears. We kept moving, the Empress stoic and unresponsive to her people as we went.

My grip was tight on the pulse rifle, anxious sweat making my palm slick. I was almost there; I only needed to hold on for a little while longer. Long enough to make the deal and start moving our people.

T he walk felt like an hour, but after a few more minutes, we were brought to an elevator. I didn’t like the idea of entering the cramped space with the guards.

“Where does this lead? To Blel?” I asked.

The Empress asked something in Bhlat, and the guard grunted and nodded. “Yes, to the bridge.”

“Then the four of us go alone,” I said.

She relayed it, and one of the guards looked ready to pull a weapon. I tightened my grasp on the Empress, and she said something to them in a calming voice. He stepped back and let us enter the lift alone.

Unlike the elevator back at her palace, this one functioned like a normal one, and once inside, we lifted quickly. When the doors opened, I was ready for the fight of my life, but didn’t need to be as we were greeted by two tall thin Bhlat in dark gray uniforms.

The first one spoke, her words coming through a translator. “Welcome, Dean Parker. Your Majesty.” She bowed, and the other followed suit. “This way.” They turned and walked toward the main bridge.

It was immense, at least ten times the size of our small ships’ bridges. I spotted around twelve Bhlat officers on board. The lights were bright but not severe, and the space was spotless and shiny. This Blel was obviously a man of cleanliness and order. Almost familiar sounds emanated from the computers, once again reminding me that our races might not be as different as we seemed on the surface. I could use that.

“Mr. Parker,” a thick accented voice said in English. The man rose from what could only be his captain’s seat, front and center to the thirty-foot viewscreen at the far end of the bridge. He turned, and I expected to see an eight-foot-tall behemoth of a Bhlat warrior. Instead, I was greeted with a shrivelled, ancient-looking creature, shorter than myself and hunched at the back. He was bald, save for a tuft of hair that stuck out to one side from the top of his head. His eyes were black and beady; from this distance, I couldn’t make out any of the swirling visage the other Bhlat had. Blel wasn’t a young man. He breathed heavily, and gray hairs fluttered by his three nostrils as he did so.

“Blel,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Let her go and we can talk,” he said, his garbled words still translating.

I shook my head. “We talk, your forces back down, you give me my friends, and then we leave.” I almost said “show me her body,” but refrained.

“What do you hope to achieve here, Mr. Parker?” I hated the way he was saying my name, almost spitting it out through his dull, yellowed teeth.

“I hope to make the deal and get the hell out of here, that’s what.” He was giving me a bad vibe, and I felt the Empress stiffen as we had our back and forth.

“Is that so? Why should we let you live? Humans are a scourge to the universe.”

“And the Bhlat aren’t? I’ve seen the carnage in your wake.”

“Is it so unlike your own, Mr. Parker?” His accent was heavy, but his words slapped me in the face regardless. “We started the destruction of the Kraskis, who were no stranger to death and slavery. Then you single-handedly destroyed them along with the Deltra, and most of their abominations while you were at it.” His word for the hybrids set my blood boiling, but I let him continue. “We make quite the team, Dean. Maybe you should stay on my ship, and we can work together.”

“Can we cut the crap and make the deal?” When he didn’t reply, I kept talking. “You can have your Empress here, her kid, and Earth. I want my people back, and for you to vacate the area for ten Earth days while we evacuate. Then it’s all yours.”

He seemed to consider this, and a tall Bhlat leaned in to whisper something in their native tongue.

“No deal,” he said. “You ended a whole outpost of ours. Women, children, all gone in an instant. This is unforgivable.”

My pulse rifle lifted in the air, and I fought back the instinct to fire at the old unarmed Bhlat leader. “What do you mean, no deal?”

“Blel, this isn’t your decision!” the Empress yelled in English for my benefit before shouting other words in her language to him.

“You sit in your palace as your mother did before you, barking orders and rewarding us for killing worlds, and now you have a heart?” His voice was loud and gravelly. “You don’t get to decide any longer. I’m taking charge.”

I kept my gun up and glanced to Leonard, who was sweating profusely down his brow. The officers on the bridge looked torn, deep colorful swirling eyes looking to each other for an answer on what they should do. Who did they side with?

“How dare you think to speak to me like this, Blel? I’m your Empress, and you will address me as such.” The Empress started to walk forward toward him, but I held her back. If this was going to get ugly, I needed a hostage. That would only work if the crew sided with her.

A noise carried from his small mouth, and at first, I thought it might be a cough, but quickly realized it was him laughing. “Empress, I care as much about what happens to you as I do this one’s mate, Mary.”

He said the sentence, and I stood there blankly, body exhausted from the last couple of days, my mind taking a minute to catch up to the translation.

“Stand down, crew! Blel, you’re now relieved of your duty to the Empirical Core, and are hereby declared a traitor, and you will die like one.” This time, I did let her loose, while Mary’s name still echoed in my head. She moved to him, her hand raised, red power glowing from her palm.

I spotted at least three armed crew coming from the edges of the room, and knew one of them would fire at her before she killed Blel.

“Stop!” I yelled, pulling my tablet from the small pack strapped to my chest. It sat beside my small Kalentrek, which would decimate the bridge and the ship’s crew at a touch. It was a last resort, but one I’d be willing to use to save my friends.

Maybe Blel was right: we weren’t so different. I left the Relocator and mini-Shield inside and flipped to the image of the powerful device sitting in the ceiling back in the palace. “Let’s just say I brought more collateral.” I held the tablet up for Blel and the others to see. “This is the same device I used on your outpost, and it’s sitting in your capital on your homeworld now. I have a switch to activate it, and a friend on the outside has one too. If you don’t leave in fifteen minutes…” I let the bluff linger without finishing it.