Inherited War 3: Retaliation Read Online Free PDF Page B

I thought I would. The last few days are jumbled in my mind. I find it hard to believe that it was me who said those things. Frankly, I don’t remember. Apparently I also massacred some Worlders, blamed it on them, and then kicked them off the base. Thank God for that, not the killing part but getting them off the base. It sounds much safer for them to be elsewhere at the moment. Hell, I don’t want to be around me right now. I constantly find myself lost in memories. Memories of the Esii, ancient humans, and my own. It is becoming harder to separate my waking and sleeping. Jarrod no longer comes to my dreams, now the Pyndigum haunt my sleep. And something else, something dark. It scares me like nothing ever has before. I don’t let the fear scare me off, however. Whenever I feel it building in me, I look for it. Unfortunately, that’s when I have my blackouts. I begin to feel jumpy, then it progresses to full blown paranoia before I feel it enter my head. I look for it at that point, and usually wake up hours later to find that I have done something horrible. The only thing that seems to make it stop or go away is to surround myself with my own kind. For the first time since I came into this new life of a daring space adventurer, I am lost. Not only that, but I have alienated my friends and once again lost the woman I love. Until I can solve what is going on within me, I will throw myself into working to save my people and find and build a world we can call our own. The past no longer matters. The future is ours.
     
    Cole banged the gavel down once again on the table in front of him and waited for the room to quiet. Every man who wasn’t on duty was in the hanger that had been filled with portable seats. There were a few women who were still mobile enough to make their way from their rooms, as well.
    “Thank you all for coming, and for those of you unable to attend participating from your rooms via the video system. I have a readout here that will let me know if you have any questions or suggestions, so just because you are watching on a screen doesn’t mean you can’t join in. Let’s start the show, shall we?” Cole sat down and looked out across the crowd. He was still a little surprised that he was looking at other humans, considering he had seen his world destroyed. Movement in the back of the room caught his eye and he momentarily frowned. Gavreal. The kin had defied his orders and stayed behind. Cole had grown angry and agitated when he was told the Kin was refusing to leave. He had said that Cole could take his life if he chose, but he wasn’t leaving.
    Worlders he could apparently kill by the dozens, but he had heard grumbling from his men about killing a being that looked so much like an angel. He had let the being stay but was watching him—closely. He put the Kin out of his mind and once again addressed his people.
    “I promised all of you that when we were safe at our temporary home we would settle a few issues and begin to create our new world. Now is that time. Apart from Gavreal,” Cole nodded his head in the alien’s direction, “humans are all that are left on the base. I have set aside the whole day for this meeting and hope we spend it wisely. Let’s start with a discussion on forming a civilian government.” As Cole expected, a man stood quickly and shouted for the floor.
    Cole glared at the man until he sat down. “Before we get to that though, I need to explain a few things that will have baring on what we decide to do here. First, we are, for all intents and purposes, nearly extinct. Our numbers are about to nearly triple in the next few days but as a species we are vulnerable. Vulnerable to dying off from accident, war or self-implosion. I have sworn to all of you that I will see humanity return in force to the galaxy. I will spend every last breath of my body in service to you and your children. I will find you a home. I will defend that home with every fiber of my being and will