Reborn

Prologue“I see a court-martial in our future.” Embeth frowned and shoved a grenade into the bandolier before reaching over and grabbing the last neutralizer. A cartridge for the weapon lay on a nearby table. He scowled at it before grabbing it, loading it into the gun and slipping it into an ankle holster. “Let's worry about that later,” I muttered. Kedge slipped his staff into the sling strapped to his back and fixed me with a hard look. I felt his monocled eye boring into me. He continued staring until finally I threw up my hands in exasperation. “What?” I asked, mildly irritated. He offered a weak smile before reaching into the folds of his robe. His closed fist emerged and he held it out. “Open your hand.” I opened it reluctantly, realizing it remained difficult for me to trust him. He had been the former leader of our enemy, the Lumagom. No matter how many times he attempted to make amends for past misdeeds he was still responsible, in part, for the mess we found ourselves in. He hesitated before dropping a small, metallic object into my open hand. Despite the dirt and grime which had accumulated around the object I managed to observe small glimmers of gold. When I rubbed the grime away I saw it was a small, golden ankh. “Is this what I think it is?” I asked, irritation giving way to surprise. “Yes,” he replied. “I kept it safe for centuries in order to preserve the memory of Mars. This trinket is enchanted with good fortune. It has kept me safe up to this point. I pass it to you in the hope that its luck will transfer over to you.” I was about to offer my thanks but Wraith interrupted us. He shoved several golf ball-sized objects into my hand. Instead of dimples, several tiny metallic diamonds were embedded in its surface. “What are these?” “Stun grenades, in order to keep the casualties to a minimum,” he explained. “Thanks,” I replied, letting the cold metal tickle the palm of my hand as I turned them over and inspected them. “Good idea.” “Of course it's a good idea. It was my idea,” he quipped. Lianne clipped her sword to her belt and moved to my side. “We are ready.” She frowned at my apprehension. “Perhaps I should ask if you are.” I shoved the grenades into my pocket and shrugged. “I guess so.” My reply did not satisfy her. Her scowl became annoying. “What do you expect me to say? Last month I was a teenager worrying about math grades, now I'm trying to save the world. It's a pretty difficult transition.” Her frown faded and her features softened. “Sorry, Nathan. I seemed to have forgotten you are still young, and have a lot to learn.” “I'm not much older than you, Lianne.” My reply, dryer than intended, caused a pained look to cross her face. Before she could respond, Gard interrupted. “Sir, Earth's satellites have moved out of position. We are cleared to launch.” “Thank you, Gard.” Satou turned to us and called out over his shoulder. “Get ready and strap yourselves in, folks. We are ready to take off!” Wraith hopped in the co-pilot chair while the rest of us did as Satou instructed. We launched from Docking Bay 5 into the emptiness of space. I chuckled nervously when I glanced at our “crew”. Two Council members, an emotionless robot, a Defense Fleet Captain, an ornery weapons specialist and a human teenager whose greatest accomplishment up to this point was getting an A on his Advanced Physics exam. We were an odd group about to do something that only a short time ago I would have never in my wildest dreams thought possible. We were about to invade Earth.