1 Month Earlier

  A warm breeze blew through Lucy’s hair as she stood at the gates of Matterhorn Prep, waiting for Marie to drive up in the battered old Contra and whisk her away. Not a soul populated the well-manicured grounds or imperial graystone buildings of Matterhorn Prep, thanks to the late hour, and Lucy felt a twinge of loneliness run through her soul. To others, it might have been a nice and quiet spring evening, but the school’s eerie emptiness just cemented how Lucy felt about the place during the day.

  It had been a long year. Lucy had done her best to try to make friends, to little avail. It had always been harder for her, since she was so young for her grade, but she had always managed to get by with sheer friendliness. That had been impossible with this new group of kids, who looked down on her for her age and her low social status. Add onto that the fact that she was an outsider to the already established social cliques and Lucy had stopped trying after only two months. The others ignored her, and she ignored them, choosing to focus solely on her studies. She’d gotten the information she’d needed and taken the CSAE again. Now she was just counting down the days to graduation.

  Next year’s classes had already been chosen, so Lucy’d need to take a gap year. That was just fine by her. There was something she’d been meaning to research anyways. Her brow furrowed as her mind flashed to a dark place. The events and reports of that day didn’t add up. Not in the slightest.

  Before she could brood for long, Marie showed up and drove her away. Lucy was happy to distract herself with idle chatter, talking with her beloved guardian about how her day had been and what the local gossip was. The conversation turned to Danny at one point, reminding Lucy that they would be able to see her brother in a couple months. He’d been planning to visit home after his second mission. If he survived, of course.

  The pang of worry was interrupted by the ping of her SmartPad. Surprised, she picked up her device and opened the message:

  “To: Lucille Mary Hardgrave

  Subject: Civil Service Aptitude Exam Score

  Lucille M. Hardgrave,

  We at the Ministry of Education award you the enclosed score for your efforts on the most recent Civil Service Aptitude Exam. Civil service is one of the most important functions in the Imperium, and we are grateful for your interest in this hallowed profession. We also offer you congratulations on an outstanding performance. Your number of remaining attempts is enclosed, though you likely won’t need them.

  Score: 98%

  Number or remaining attempts: 1

  Signed,

  Robert Bavarian

  Minister of Education”

  Lucy’s squeal of joy nearly caused Marie to crash the car from fright. Once the confidant learned the news, she nearly crashed the car again from joy. Both women could hardly care about the annoyance of the other drivers as they celebrated Lucy’s hard-earned win. The boost in confidence this brought wiped away any of Lucy’s earlier worries. Danny would complete his missions. They’d talk soon. He’d get the money she needed for school and come back safe.

  Everything was going to work out fine.

  …

  Days after Mission End

  Deputy Commander Seth Norlow was not happy.

  The lanky old man was something of a legend within the Federation. Despite being only Delta class, he’d worked his way his way up to the second highest position in the whole Fed. Intellect, indomitable spirit, and a consistent care for his men had allowed him to shepherd squads, divisions, and even armies of Pioneers through difficult battles. His owlish eyes, bushy white mustache, and remarkable intelligence had earned him the nickname “Professor” or usually just “Prof”. He truly did look like he’d be more at home researching some historical topic or pouring over ancient manuscripts. Instead, he frowned as he looked over reams and reams of reports. Reports from Pioneers who had just finished their missions. And the more he read, the deeper his frown got.

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  Their ranks of new recruits had been decimated, with many squads failing to return entirely. Of the ones that did, they often possessed heavy casualties and low salvage values. There were numerous reports of strange black Xenomorphs with high combat ability. The stronger Pioneers had also been assaulted, and while they’d fared better than their counterparts, they’d still seen reduced harvests. The scale and timing of these attacks suggested coordination. Some had even seen the Xenos walking through a kind of portal construct, indicating that these enemies had come from a distant place and used a mode of travel unknown to modern science.

  The more he read the more dismal he got. They had been counting on aggressive recruiting to replenish the military’s personnel and material resources, but now those efforts were hamstrung. There were a few outliers, a few success stories, but they’d need to lean on those human resources even harder now. A small sigh escaped his lips as Seth began making mental plans. He hit the call button on his HUD, and a deep, gravelly voice soon emanated from his device: “Seth. Good news I hope.”

  Commander Oran Brekinar scared Norlow a little, but his voice came out calm and confident as he responded: “I’m afraid not, sir. I’m calling to request a meeting with the Clans.”

  There was a short pause, then: “We should not bother the Duceps lightly.”

  “I know. But we have a serious problem.”

  “I see. I will contact them now.”

  They ended the call and Norlow gave another exhale as he sat back in his seat. He was getting too old for this, he knew. His wife wouldn’t stop reminding him, urging him to retire. But someone needed to steer the ship, complete the mission, and keep the boys alive. He grimaced at the thought. Hadn’t done that last part very well recently, had he? He’d do better going forward.

  He'd have to.

  …

  424,031 credits.

  After taxes, that was how much money Daniel had made from this mission. It was more money than he would have made in 10 years at his old job, all within around 3 months. And that didn’t even count the corpses of the black Xenos, whose bodies’ value would be assessed in time. His excitement was tempered by a reminder that he couldn’t really spend it. It was for the college fund, after all. He wouldn’t buy anything he didn’t need for survival.

  That said, he did need more bullets, so he visited the transport ship’s armory and resupplied. He seriously considered buying a blaster but dismissed the notion. The Jackson had gotten him this far, and replacing it was far from necessary.

  As he walked through the gunmetal gray innards of the ship’s belly, Daniel reflected on everything. The moment he’d exited his pod, he’d been shocked to see just how small their original expedition had become. He’d hoped that his squad was an anomaly, but several of the other groups had lost up to half of their members. Many had never come back at all. Everyone was gossiping fearfully about what those bizarre predators had been, or where they’d come from. Beyond a few obvious tall tales, no one had any clear answers, but as he walked, Daniel remembered Marlo No’Trak’s words:

  “But stay on the watch for the Kharnidd...”

  Suddenly, things clicked into place. He pulled up Nuntius’s dialog box once again, writing: “Nuntius, are those black creatures the Kharnidd?”

  “Yes”

  Now that set Daniel off: “Why didn’t you tell me? Didn’t you hear me asking the others about them after Marlo’s message?”

  “When the System runs out of power, I am forced into shutdown mode. While I can perform rudimentary functions in this mode, such as contact and virtually interface with facility systems, I am all but shut out. You cannot contact me, nor use functions of the System. I cannot contact you either, nor perceive what you are saying or doing. I have no “memory” of this conversation you speak of.”

  Okay, that was fair. But still…

  “Why not tell me now that you do have power?”

  “I do not have access to the User’s knowledge banks. I cannot “read your mind”, in the fullness of that phrase. While a Protocol is operating, I have a surface level understanding of your thoughts, allowing me to follow mental commands. But my restrictions keep me from going beyond that. In other words, I do not know what you do not know. My core programming assumes my User already has knowledge of the Enemy. Please ask me whatever you wish to know.”

  Alright, that made sense as well. Now that he thought about it, Daniel didn’t want some machine reading his mind anyways. His next command was obvious: “Tell me everything you know about the Kharnidd.”

  His notification log pinged, and Daniel stifled a groan. Nuntius had sent him another document like the System schematic, except this one was even longer. Daniel felt a headache coming on as he saw a lot more reading in his future. Still, if it could help him deal with the menacing Xenos more easily, he was all for it. In fact…

  Daniel continued making plans for this document as he walked back to his living quarters. As he did, he felt the slight shudder of the ship’s engines kicking into a higher gear. That was a sign that it had picked up the last of the Pioneers and was taking them off to their next destination. What if there were more Kharnidd there as well? He didn’t have a well charged System to back him up, and the ship’s armory couldn’t supply him any Meta Diamonds. The swirling thoughts made him clench his fist from the nerves. Daniel did his best to put the fear behind him as he turned to look out the window.

  The jungle planet was getting further away by the second, turning from an all-encompassing sight to an increasingly faraway marble. Its forests presented a riot of colors as seen from above, the rainbow only broken up by the occasional river or sea. These imperfections only enhanced the planet’s charm, like a jewel that had suffered a few scrapes over its many years of use. Looking at it from here, it was hard to imagine that those jungles had contained so much hardship. As the planet grew more distant, more surrounded by the black of space, it began to look like nothing more than a tiny gem in a boundless void.

  Daniel said goodbye to the gem in the void before walking back to his quarters. Jordan had been planning a card game, and he needed to make sure no one punched his friend too hard when he fleeced them for all their worth.

  End of Book 1: The Gem in the Void