Nova & Morin

As Ham and Alison made their way around the other side of the large encampment they also came upon guard stations with a minimum of five guards in each one. They had less trouble then Nova had encountered and it was more or less a matter of just getting rid of the guards.

This was easy for Ham. He let Alison have her head and she turned into a killing machine. Any guards that tried to shoot him were instantly killed by his dagger. Ham was actually getting a little frustrated that he hadn’t fired either of his 45s yet. But he did put most of his concentration on finding the face of the encampment commander.

Then he spotted a Zachrian running away from the last of the guard stations towards the now visible farm. He was carelessly shooting over his shoulder as he ran. Ham figured this soldier was either a coward or on a mission to warn the others of their approach. It really wasn’t a matter to consider for long as he drew one of the 45s and took careful aim at the Zachrian’s head. A loud boom was heard when he pulled the trigger. A nanosecond later the head of the Zachrian exploded into bits and a mist of blood and brains. Ham had a satisfied smile as he holstered his gun.

Alison came up to Ham, dragging a soldier behind her. She dropped the half dead Zachrian at Ham’s feet.

“Happy now my love?” Alison asked quietly but out loud to Ham after seeing him kill the fleeing soldier.

“Yes. In fact, I am. I didn’t come here to just watch this war. I could have done that on Morin or even back on Nova II. I am here to fight for my people.” Ham told her and then looked down at the painfully beaten soldier on the ground. “What is this?” He pointed to the soldier.

“Look into his mind. I have seen a familiar face there.” Alison told Ham as she wore an odd expression and a slight smile.

“Ham,” Mary’s voice suddenly echoed in the back of his mind. Everyone else heard her too as she spoke to him. “I have repaired all of the young boy’s injuries and he will be as normal as he was before. The will be no scarring on his skin. His mind will still hold the memories of his encounter however unless we can do something about that.”

“Remove those memories if you can Mary.” Ham told her telepathically. “If you can’t, remind me about it when things here are finished. I am sure that together we will be able to do it. Those are memories he shouldn’t have to carry with him the rest of his life.”

“Of course.” Mary acknowledged and then went silent.

Ham turned his attention to the guard laying on the ground. He was groaning in pain. The pain seemed to be coming from more than one part of his body. Ham noticed that one of his legs was articulated and bent in an unnatural way that it was meant to.

“Did you have to break his leg?” Ham asked Alison.

“It seemed to be the thing to do at the time.” She grinned back at him.

Ham next concentrated on the guard’s head and easily entered the mind of the Zachrian. His mind was full of military things. His training mostly. He also saw the parties and orgies he had been involved in. Much laughing with other soldiers and drinking and eating. He also saw the killing of many innocent, unarmed people. He saw how they had come to Signus III. It had been as was speculated that they had gotten there. The entire operation had arrived in that huge mothership above the planet. The ship had not flown there either. It had just appeared above it before they were all disbursed on and above the planet.

Then Ham saw the face he was not quite ready to see and it shocked him a little. It was Lowery’s face. He was on board that ship and was talking to the soldiers who were all lined up in long rows, with dozens and dozens of rows on one of its huge hanger decks.

The soldier was either too far back to hear what Lowery was saying or hadn’t listened the way he should have been listening to his emperor’s speech. Ham could only catch a few words of what Lowery said. Words like ‘conquer’,