Doomsayer

Chapter One

A battleship and destroyer were closing fast. Pure white light from the Tassian sun bombarded his vision. “Get out!” Brokk screamed into his own mind. It was too late. Everyone knew it. Lago’s battleship was too damaged to escape and while Lago accepted his fate, Brokk, sharing his mind, refused it. For Brokk, fate was for the weak. Destiny was for those that lacked the courage to control their lives.

An explosion tore through his hull and knocked him off balance. Intense pressure crushed inward against his chest as oxygen rushed from his ship and into the void. Emergency systems that should have come on were absent and the same pressure that seized him at first now squeezed him on all sides. His ears popped, and his lungs screamed. A second explosion threw him to the floor. Desperate for air, Lago gasped and replenished his lungs with … nothing. The pain was too great. He had to let go, but Brokk wouldn’t let him.

“Get out of my mind!” Lago screamed. His last breath. Lungs collapsed in the vacuum. His body was weightless. All went black.

Brokk woke with a gasp. His lungs ached, and his chest hurt. He had been dreaming again, reliving the moment that Lago died. The moment that changed everything. Brokk wiped the sweat from his cold damp forehead. The room was dark, but, as he began to move, the light in his cabin brightened. He looked out of his window. Blackness. The cold space beyond his pane called to him. Lago was out there somewhere. A frozen body floating through his enemy’s star system.

He would never get back to sleep. Not with a dream like that. Not after experiencing Lago’s death as he had the day it occurred. The day he tested out the experimental Jark communication system that fused his mind with the minds of his fleet commanders.

Mistakes. That’s all it was. His side made more of them than the Mateens. Part of Brokk refused to believe this. His training had been superior. His crew was ready.

Intervention. That was the real problem. Brokk had achieved his mission in record time, sweeping away the defenses of Tassi and dismantling their government … until the Mateen intervened.

Betrayal. That was the root of it. Betrayed by his people. Out-numbered by an enemy that should never have been allowed to enter the fight. Hatred and sorrow surged within him, a toxic mix of ingredients that threatened to tear him apart from the inside out. No, he wouldn’t get back to sleep now.

Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Brokk felt the cold black floor until his feet touched his boots. The light in his room was growing brighter now, gradually increasing in intensity until his eyes had fully adjusted to a waking light. It was still early; his day shift wouldn’t be awake for another few hours. A good chance to grab some food in peace, Brokk thought to himself, pulling his red and black one-piece jumpsuit over his shoulders and heading towards the door.