Annihilation (Star Force Series) Read Online Free Page A

unsurprised. “It failed the first time, but you still believe in it?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “But what if the enemy comes from the other direction next time—from Earth?”
    “Earth was trashed less than a year ago. So was every player in this game. But I know one thing about the Macros: they can rebuild amazingly fast. I decided to put most of our resources into stopping them first.”
    “Are you sure they’re the greater threat?”
    I nodded. “Those alien machines would exterminate us all if they could. Crow would only enslave us.”
    Sandra gave me a flickering smile. “Encouraging,” she said.
    I guess she didn’t like the fact that we were surrounded by enemies. We held Eden, and had a foothold in the Helios system. But that was the extent of our influence. I’d stopped patrolling the Lobster system and Alpha Centauri long ago due to lack of resources.
    “I hope you’ve done it right this time,” she said sincerely.
    “So do I.”
    After this short conversation, I went back to rechecking data I’d already rechecked, scanning for new details that I might have missed, and which I pretty much knew weren’t there. It was agonizing going into a conflict without intel. I’d done it before, but I hated it just as much today as I had the first time. How do you plan and prepare for the unknown?
    I guessed that recent military leaders back on Earth over the last century had had it pretty good. Back in the days of planet-wide satellite coverage and Cold War intel, there were years of research and planning to back up anything you encountered. When the Soviets made a move, NATO was rarely surprised. They’d gamed out everything. Orders were already in a vault, ready to be distributed within hours.
    Those days were gone. Out here on the frontier of space, meeting new species and new threats every few months, I had to fly by the seat of my pants most of the time. My military decisions were based on guesswork as much as anything else. I’d never even seen the next system in the chain of rings, the one the Macros appeared to be coming from. We’d sent in probes of course, stealthy robotic things that we’d been sure would evade detection long enough to employ passive sensors and scan the environment.
    None of these probes had ever returned. The Macro system beyond the ring in the Thor system remained to this day a mysterious black hole in our knowledge. Because of this, we had to operate as if an attack was coming from that sector at any moment. We had to assume the worst, because we had no idea what the truth was.
    I was reminded historically of the colonial period in Earth’s history. I felt akin to the explorers and colonial governors of centuries past. They had small garrisons on wild coastlands. All around them local native populations simmered with resentment. Worse, other colonial powers or out-and-out pirates might arrive on any given day to raid their settlements or even conquer them. Back then, there weren’t any satellites or instantaneous transmissions, and the distances were comparably huge. It took months to voyage home, possibly a year between requesting assistance and getting it from your home country. I was in a similar situation. Effectively, we were on our own, and we had no idea what was going to come over the horizon.
    By the time we docked, I was ready for action. I jumped off the couch and suited up. Sandra was right behind me when I hit the airlock. I was unsurprised to find Miklos already there, waiting for us.
    The door swished open, and another familiar sight met my eyes. It was Marvin in all his unholy, metallic glory.

-3-

    Marvin was my science officer. He was also a robot. He’d built himself, and he liked to fiddle with things—including his own structure. Sometimes, he could fly. On other occasions, he slithered and dragged himself with whipping nanite arms. Usually, whatever form he took, he was large and had a dozen or so tentacles. Some of them held cameras at various