Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9) by Mark Wandrey (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📕

“This is the second time you’ve let us down. You couldn’t take control of the frontier gates once more, and now you can’t do it here.”

“Master Guildsman, please—”

“Shut. Up.” The gatemaster blubbered on for as long as it took the transmission to make a round trip, then fell silent. “Let me make this perfectly clear. If you and your race are no longer capable of doing your job, you are of no use to us.” A long finger delicately stabbed the transmitter control, cutting off any reply the other had to offer. “Nothing but simpering excuses,” he said. If it weren’t for the interdiction, he would have long ago sent a communication to the guild’s headquarters. The Pushtal and Zuul didn’t know he was as trapped as they were, and he couldn’t let them know until they had control of the facility.

“Once I have the weasels under my feet, I can wrench the truth out of them of how they did this.” He cast his eyes through the window. This temporary office on the field base looked up into the planet’s sky. Frost clung to the corners of the windows. The module was nothing more than a portable unit used for operations in combat zones. It was disgustingly spartan, and he dearly missed his office on Capitol with its lush appointments and delicate luxuries.

He’d torture the secrets of the programming changes from the Zuparti, drinking wine and eating tasty treats while they screamed. Maybe those secrets would be useful in the future. Maybe guildmaster was in his future. If he could use those secrets to advance the guild’s claims against other competitors like the Merchant Guild, who knew what was possible? He needed to speak with the Zuul and Pushtal commanders. This entire operation was taking far too long.

* * * * *

Chapter 7

Classified Engineering Guild Holding—E’cop’k System

“Colonel Porter!” The room resounded with the cheers and applause of his men.

Alan stopped in his tracks, his mouth open in surprise at the cheers. He was surrounded by dozens of faces he’d only days ago feared were dead. People crowded in to slap him on the back, shake his hand, or just say hi.

“Great to see you all,” he said over and over again.

“You gonna get us out of here, Colonel?” a private asked.

“I’m trying,” he replied.

“It’s a bloody slog,” another trooper called.

“I know,” he said. “We’ve been trying to find you the whole time.”

“I said the colonel would find us,” Jill said.

“She did,” several agreed. It was clear they hadn’t held out much hope.

“We brought two more squads, but only one of us made it.” Everyone quieted so they could hear him, and a few yelled for silence. “The Zuul ship we were aboard came under fire as soon as we arrived.”

“Zuul ship?” someone called in shock.

“Yes,” he replied, knowing this time would come. “A Zuul company, Insho’Ze, came to Earth to talk with me. Their ship disappeared at the same time you did.”

“Because we’ve been fighting them!” someone yelled, and the room descended into bedlam.

“Silence!” Alan didn’t know when Sergeant Bana had come in, but the big man’s command voice broke over the room like a tidal wave, bringing all shouts to a sudden stop. “Listen to the colonel. Fuck me dead, I never expected you men to act like a buncha bloody wankers!”

The men looked cowed, and the silence held, allowing him to continue.

“We had no idea of the situation here when we agreed to accompany Insho’Ze. For that matter, neither did they. A’kef, their commander, was just trying to find out what happened to his people, same as us.” He paused and looked around. He spotted Corporal Plesh and Private Hyll filtering into the room, which meant the kids weren’t far behind. He needed to get ahead of this and stay ahead of it. Then he saw eyes going wide as they arrived.

“Why are they here?” a trooper in the rear demanded.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Rex growled.

“We’ve been fighting and dying against Zuul since we got here.”

This time Alan saw the speaker. Corporal Edgar Pierce. He’d never liked Alan’s kids. Of course he’d made it. Alan leaned over to Jill and quickly spoke. “Where’s Dracula?” Top Sergeant Nathan “Dracula” Whitfield was the heart and soul of the noncoms in Silent Night.

“Bought it two weeks ago,” she said.

“Shit,” Alan said under his breath.

The other three young Zuul came in right behind Rex, their ears up, tails straight, and teeth showing.

“You know who they are,” Alan said loudly. “They’ve grown up around many of you.”

“They’re wearing uniforms and ranks,” someone else said.

“Because we’re part of Silent Night,” Sonya said.

“The hell you say!”

Alan felt it slipping away. In moments, the men had gone from greeting Alan like a conquering Caesar to mutinously mumbling about his kids. Then Shadow spoke.

* * *

“You went missing, and the first thing we did was join up to find you.” Shadow’s voice rumbled low, steadier than he expected it to be. “We did, and Hewers, and most of the half-grown kids you left behind. Because Silent Night is a family. Ours and yours.”

He wanted to snarl, but every beat of his heart told him he needed the people in this room. They stank of fear and mistrust, and so much anger, but underneath it and twined throughout, he smelled their desperation. The tang of longing for home and for hope.

“Newt, you tried to teach me how to ride a bike. My knees bend opposite of yours, but we figured it out. Gardner, Drake pulled a swiftie and stole your bloody surfboard. Instead of beating the piss out of him, you taught him how to use it.”

“And knocked me off