Resurrection (The Inherited War) Read Online Free Page A

of the Sun Eater.  Only a few more minutes now and the Retribution’s grav collectors would overcharge and go critical.  He felt a tug on the tether.  He ignored it.  There was a more forceful tug, then he felt himself get jerked around.
    Cole was staring into the open maw of an Esii Battle Cruiser.  Damn, they were going to get away before the Sun Eater exploded and took out everything in this part of the system.  He felt a presence invade his mind.
    “If you want to survive long amongst the Esii you will not show fear.”  The presence vanished as quickly as it had appeared.  It still made his flesh crawl to have that Esii bitch talking in his head.  He shivered a little as they ghosted through the open bay doors and floated deeper into the ship.  When the doors behind them closed, all the light in the bay went away.
    They floated for a little longer before he bumped into his captor’s still form.  He felt gravity grab hold of him, and he fell a foot or so to the floor.  He instantly crouched and went into a fighting stance.  He turned up the gain as far as it would go on his low light optics but could only see varying shades of grey.  He tried his thermos and found it wasn’t much better.  He was scared, more scared than he had been when he had woken up on Captain Feng’s ship all those months ago.
    They waited in silence.  Cole didn’t know what they were waiting for, but he was afraid that he would soon find out.  To his front, a faint white line was appearing on the floor.  Light.  It started to move upward and expand.  A door was opening, and Cole tensed for action.  His insides felt all watery, and he was glad to be in his combat skin.   As the door reached its peak, Cole saw the silhouettes of four beings outlined in the soft light.  Their features were hidden to him, but he could guess who they were.
    “Why would two creatures come to our ship?”  Esii.  Definitely.  The voice was worse than nails on a chalk board.  Interesting, Cole thought, they don’t know who we are.  The one that spoke looked to the other three.  “Place them in the animal pens.”
    As they began to move forward to comply, Cole’s captor stepped forward and placed her hands on her hips.  The three Esii stopped their forward momentum and turned to look back at their leader.  It was silent for a few moments before his captor spoke.  She retracted the helmet and took a deep breath of air.  Cole left his up.
    “Now that is settled, let us speak openly so my pet can hear us.  As I was saying, I am Dayja, of the Sjukdomur clan.  I was tasked with possessing this human woman and waiting for the return of the Great Enemies descendant.  I have fulfilled my mission and returned with a Pure prisoner.”  She waited a moment for that to sink in before she continued.  “I will wait here until a proper greeting is prepared for me, by the leader of this clan ship.”  She crossed her arms over her chest and assumed an indifferent pose.
    Cole finally retracted his own helmet and nearly gagged at the foul odor in the air.  These things smelled worse than a dump in the summer.  He was about to speak when the Esii Battle Cruiser bucked and shook violently.  They all stumbled a little but remained on their feet.
    “Heh, that would be your Sun Eater blowing up I would imagine.  You're welcome.”  Cole was taking shallow breaths and only breathing through his mouth.  “Guess you’re going to have to call your friends to make you a new one.” 
    “What do you know of our friend, animal?”  One of the three thugs began to say before he was literally cut off by the leader.  As quick as the words came out of his mouth the leader leapt forward and rammed a small knife into the speakers back.  He must have severed his spine because he collapsed into a heap instantly.
    Cole’s captor didn’t twitch as the murder took place.  Cole chuckled again.  “This is going to be easier than I thought.”
    The