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Chapters (42)
  1. Cover Blurb
  2. Contents
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty

He heard one of the aliens let out a keening sound and winced, feeling an odd twinge of sympathy.  The aliens had been living with the POWs, performing odd experiments on the POWs ... and yet he couldn't help feeling a little sorry for the nine aliens.  They were going to be delivered to a secure facility in the Sol System ... or, perhaps, wind up killed by their own people if the aliens caught up with Ark Royal.  It was easy to believe that they would never see their home again.

“He ran towards the water,” Parnell mused.  “There could be an entire alien settlement under the waves.”

Markus stared at him.  The orbital sensors hadn't detected any settlements ... but they hadn't looked under the water.  How could they?

“You think they stay in the water?”

“They’re certainly built for it,” Parnell said.  “They remind me of that character from the TV show ... the guy who was a merman or something.  But thousands of them could be under the waves, hiding from us.”

Markus shuddered.  He hoped the Marine was wrong.

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

“There will be a review, of course.”

Ted nodded, glumly.  There were strict rules for handling POWs, rules that would logically be applied to their alien captives too.  Humanity’s treatment of POWs tended to range widely, but the war wasn’t old enough for common decency to be forgotten – and besides, the aliens would be a source of intelligence in their own right.  There was no need to mistreat them even if there wasn't a political lobby that would rise up in arms at the merest hint the aliens weren't being treated gently.

“Under the circumstances, I think we can agree that no action is required,” he said.  It was legal to use all necessary force to prevent prisoners from escaping – and while he was sure the Marines would face a great deal of second-guessing, the Admiralty would probably take their side.  “And the other aliens?  Are they healthy?”

The doctor sighed.  She’d been irked at being called away from the rescued POWs in order to tend to the aliens, even though they were valuable prisoners.  “I am no expert in the care and feeding of alien life forms,” she said, “and nor is anyone else in the navy.  We have no baseline for what is normal for their race and what isn’t.  There are steps we can take to ensure that their quarters are suitable for them, and we think we can provide them with proper foodstuffs, but there are too many unanswered questions for us to be completely sure.”