Telisan smiled, a gesture he’d learned from humans. “I’m surprised you humans have only one joint in your arms, must have made it hard to swing from tree to tree.”
“Hey Rico,” another pilot called. “The commander knows your family.” The humans began to shout good-natured abuse across the room.
Seeka, the only other Denlenn aboard, walked in. Like Telisan, he was tall and angular, with leathery skin, a lipless mouth and golden eyes under a rough mane of thick hair.
“Greetings, young one,” Telisan said in Denleni.
“Greetings, Mighty Warrior, Ace of Aces.”
“Ah, knock it off,” Telisan added in Standard to his young friend’s amusement.
“What word from the bridge?” Seeka asked.
Telisan shrugged. “We’re still at defcon 4. There’s been no signal, no sightings since we left jumpspace.”
The young Denlenn’s face looked grim. “Can it be? Can the freighter captain’s wild story be true? Is Enshar destroyed?”
“I do not see how with the Conchirri fighting in their home system,” Telisan replied. “Pity the freighter didn’t dare get closer to Enshar.”
“Damn him,” Seeka said. “He fled when he could not raise system control, even dumped his cargo.”
“Perhaps it is best. Had he gone in, he too, might have been destroyed. As it is we are here with a fleet.”
“Fleet?” Seeka snorted. “A rust-bucket escort carrier and whatever else was handy in the fleet resupply depot when the call came.”
“Which included me,” Telisan replied.
Seeka nodded. “That is the only reason we’d have a century ace like you on a CVE. Trust me; the Black Diamonds are glad to have you here.”
“Now hear this,” the speaker sounded over their heads, “all senior officers to the bridge.”
“Now maybe we’ll find out what’s going on,” Seeka said.
Telisan looked over at the rostrum where his XO, Lieutenant Bailey, stood. “Bailey, get the pilots down to the flight deck. I’m betting we sortie soon. We have time for once; I want everything double-checked.”
“Aye, aye, Wing.” He turned to the waiting room. “Black Diamonds, on your feet!”
Telisan nodded to Seeka and sped off, his long legs eating up Earhart’s corridors until he arrived at the bridge. A marine opened the hatchway for him and he ducked to enter Earhart’s bridge, with its multitude of holo screens and stations.
Officers filled Earhart’s cramped bridge and stared at the multiple views of Enshar displayed on the ship’s view-screens. Telisan, taller than most of the human crew, looked over their heads at the green and blue world they’d come to rescue.
“They’re all dead,” Captain Demidov said, passing a shaky hand through her gray-streaked hair.
“Gods,” Telisan whispered, chills running through him. Billions of Enshari gone, along with thousands of other Confederate citizens, the scale of the catastrophe numbed the mind.
Demidov dropped into her chair, looking weary for the first time in Telisan’s experience. She waved a hand at the expedition’s chief scientist, a dark-skinned human male. “Fill them in, Doctor.”
The scientist walked over to the screen. “Our probes show millions of corpses on the upper levels of their underground cities,” he said, his voice grave. “We see trains wrecked and strewn off grav-rails. Thousands of ocean-going vessels are still afloat, but drifting or steaming to no purpose.” He gestured at the one of the screens showing a metallic splatter in a field. “Destroyed aircraft litter the planet’s surface. All movement we’ve detected is either robotic or animal in nature. All forms of intelligent life on Enshar are gone. We are assuming some sort of chemical or biological attack, though there is some evidence of direct-fire weapon being used.”
Demidov nodded to the scientist who sat down at his station and stared at the deck.
“How can this be?” Telisan asked. “How could a Conchirri fleet strike here? Even at the height of their strength, an assault on Enshar’s defenses would have been grueling. How could they manage it now, in the midst of defeat?”
“It makes no sense,” Demidov said, staring at the screens as if she could will answers from them.
“No answer, sir,” the officer replied. “I’m detecting some automated signals from Enshar…nothing else.”
“Scan picked up clouds of metallic debris over Enshar,” a tech added. “They’re in the same orbit as Enshar’s main space stations. The stations are gone.”
“Any sign of debris from Conchirri vessels?” Demidov asked.
“None,” he replied.
“Even if a Conchirri attack achieved total surprise,” Telisan said, “Enshar’s defense would have taken a heavy toll on any attacking force.”
“Communications,” Demidov ordered, “have the destroyer escort Flamme move to the vanguard. She’s handiest in atmosphere. Relay to the rest