This is the second part of an epic novella which has been in progress for two years. It tips the scales at 16,000 words and 46 pages.
If you've never read Shattered Earth: Korell, you can read the newly revised edition (url="http://"http://www.xtalmac.com/writings/korell.pdf")here(/url).
Since the story is so long, only the first thousand words are posted here. But read the entire thing in beautiful PDF form (url="http://"http://www.xtalmac.com/writings/necromancers.pdf")here!(/url)
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Year 2711
Christine Cordier was an anti-Earth Federation activist who defected to the people of Rhylla. She was from Versčte, a French-speaking planet near the heart of the Earth Federation, falling under the jurisdiction of France.
The people of Rhylla themselves were refugeesthirteen years before, their empire was destroyed in a catastrophic nuclear attack by the Earth Federation, supposedly ending the longest war in well over a millennium.
Christine Cordier sat before her assigned console in the command center, monitoring the hyperwave bands. It was three months after the Rigel warhead had been deployed against the Earth Federation facilities in the Achein Bais on the southeastern hemisphere of Ateria, the new home to the refugees of Rhylla. The destruction was absolute, and to say that the blast was felt at the Isliu Ustrava military base would be an understatement.
After the attack, the Earth Federation did not bother the Rhyllans of Ateria at all. The weapons blast radius was over fifteen hundred miles, and the Earth Federation knew that the Rhyllans nuclear program was progressing at such a rate that they couldnt possibly mass so many troops again without again losing a noticeable portion of their army.
"Thats odd," Christine thought to herself. There was an unusual spike on all hyperwave bands. It was coming from the Core Worlds. She switched to the visual monitor.
And suddenly it was on the screen. A large fleet of Earth Federation warships that just exited hyperspace around the French Core World of Versčte.
"About three months ago," Cordier explained in the conference chamber, "the French governor was assassinated by Earth Federation black-ops. He was swiftly replaced with a sort of interim leaderlikely a puppet leader."
"Not to be in support of the Earth Federation," Korell said. "But what makes you believe that hes a puppet leader? The Earth Federation still has some forms of democracy."
"Simply, because the French territories havent made any motion to secede from the Earth Federation. That and he was selected by the government to fill the remainder of his term. Its been the same way for three centuries; every time an Earth Federation political leader dies for whatever reason, the authoritarianism grows ever tighter."
There was a pause. Cordier then continued, "I believe that the interim leader has authorized extermination of the Versčtaire rebels. I worry that we may have lost an ally."
"We do have colony ships," Cordier said to Councilor Vincens on the hyperwave. "And I have approval to initiate an evacuation of as many of your people as is possible before the Earth Federation makes their move."
"How many people could they hold?"
"We have two left that werent used for building the capital, and each can accommodate up to thirty thousand without quarters."
"Well, then," Vincens said, "at last estimate the Rebel population was around forty thousand, mostly concentrated around five villages well outside any police jurisdiction. What about a timeframe?"
"The Earth Federation isnt one for leaving its military completely unprepared," Christine said. "They tend to issue orders hours, even weeks in advance. And Ive been monitoring all of the hyperwave bands. No orders have been issued. I believe that their fleet is primarily a ground invasion force; things wouldnt go terrifically well should the Earth Federation simply bomb every single village on Versčte from orbit. Id hazard a guess that we could depart tomorrow, arrive four days later, and pick up everyone in an hour per village. With both colony ships we could also accommodate a fair defense force to keep the Earth Federation at bay while we load the vessels."
"What sort of defense?" Vincens inquired.
"We have barely any army," Cordier replied. "What we do have is plenty of antimissile weapons and two hundred armored vehicles that can be automated or remotely controlled."
"Very well, then. I will inform my people and the other councilors. You may deploy when you wish."
"By command of the Regional Council, everyone is to evacuate aboard the colony vessel." Loudspeakers blared this recording, among others like it, alternating in English and French as the tanks roamed about the villages.
It was remarkably quick to empty each villagethe colony ships, when in an evacuation configuration, had very broad entry ramps, and no walls or corridors. The configuration was intended to hold as many people as possible, regardless of personal comfort. Each village was emptied in no more than an hour.
The Earth Federation fleet didnt even notice until the last village was evacuatedthey were assembling on wholly the other side of the planet for the prior duration of the evacuation. They had just tapped into the Versčtaire satellite networks, and almost immediately realigned the planetary defense satellites. Twelve gunships they deployed, and they sped to the fifth village.
The colony ships began departing as the satellites attacked.
"What the hell is going on?" Shallov demanded, barging into the command center while straightening his uniform. Clearly, he had been abruptly woken up.
"Theres been a disaster on Versčte," Korell said. "Earth Federation planetary defense satellites attacked the colony ships as they were leaving. Im afraid that there are no survivors."
Shallov sighed. "Im afraid that there is nothing that can be done," he said. "You are dismissed."
Some nights later, Korell was awoken as abruptly as Shallov must have beenbut not under similar circumstances.
It was a dream. Or a nightmare. Korell hadnt yet decided which.
A tall man... a silhouette, but not his clothes... he had a robe which was glowing bright white... he commanded Korell to go to his planet... Lordair, he said... and then Korell knew the galactic coordinates of the world. That was all he could remember after he awoke.
His intercom began beeping in the pattern common with incoming messages.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"Christine. Did I wake you?"
"No... no, I was already awake. What do you need?"
"Do you, perchance, know how to access the hyperwave monitors through personal terminals?"
Korell thought for a moment. "The terminals are only designed for messaging," he then said. "But everythings on the same network. I might be able to work something out. What do you need?"
"I just need to look up some galactic coordinates," Cordier said. "I cant explain..."
"Does it have anything to do with Lordair?"
"Yes... yes, it does. How did you know?"
"We must be awake for the same reason."
Remember: you can still read the remainder of the story (url="http://"http://www.xtalmac.com/writings/necromancers.pdf")here.(/url)
