Shadows of the Gods: Crimson Worlds Refugees II by Jay Allan Read Free Book Online

of them. And everyone present understood the risk they would take landing on another First Imperium world.
    “Will you be authorizing a research expedition as well, Admiral?”
    Compton almost let a laugh escape his mouth. He was a little surprised Cutter had waited the few seconds he had to ask. “Yes, Hieronymus, I will. I retain all of my prior concerns, but since we have no choice but to land the agricultural team, I believe the benefits of allowing your people to gather artifacts and data are likely to outweigh the incremental risk. We will already be on the planet…if there are active alert systems, they will be triggered anyway.” Compton paused. “But listen to me, Hieronymus. I understand your drive, your passion. I know you want as much data as you can get, to learn more about the First Imperium. And I respect it…and recognize its value to our survival efforts. But let me be perfectly clear. You are to conduct your operation with extreme caution at all times. Do you understand me?”
    “Yes, Admiral. Of course.”
    “I mean it, Hieronymus. No matter what you think you may find…you have to be extremely careful every moment you are down there. Every second.”
    “Yes, Admiral. I understand completely.”
    Compton still didn’t believe Cutter, not completely. But the scientist sounded sincere, and that was as good as he could get right now. “Very well. Then let us proceed…and decide if X48 serves our needs. There are only three planets, far fewer than in most of the systems we have passed through. And only one of them is habitable. The first is a scorched rock, so close to the sun that its surface is molten most of the time. The third is a gas giant, without even a moon orbiting it. That leaves planet two.”
    Compton slid his finger across the small screen on the table in front of him. “I am sending the scanning results to your ‘pads.” He waited a few seconds while everyone in the room looked at their screens.
    “You will note that the planet is almost a perfect one for human life. Indeed, it is a virtual paradise…and it is covered with ruins. It was once the home to billions of life forms, though, like every other world we have encountered, there are no signs any of its residents remain.”
    “What are these readings, Admiral?” Sophie Barcomme looked up from her ‘pad. “We haven’t seen anything like this on the other worlds.”
    “Those readings are a big question mark, Commander Barcomme.” Compton was deliberately formal with Barcomme, as she was with him, though he suspected the whole thing was pointless. He didn’t have a doubt in his mind everyone else in the room thought they were lovers. But there was no time for that nonsense, not now.
    He turned and looked around the table. “There are traces of radiation in certain locations. They are consistent with what we’d expect to find after the detonation of fusion and anti-matter weaponry…about half a million years after the fact.” He paused to let his words sink in.
    “After gathering these readings, Commander Fujin took her craft into orbit and collected some visual intelligence. If you’ll move to images five through eleven you will see what she was able to obtain.”
    There were a few soft gasps, but otherwise the room was silent.
    “Yes,” Compton said, reinforcing what he knew they had all realized. “These cities were not left to slowly decay. They were destroyed. In battle.” He paused again. “Whatever happened here, it was different from the fates of the other worlds we have passed. Those all seemed…abandoned, for lack of a better word. The cities were ruins, but that was time’s work. All of our analysis suggests that they were intact when the people disappeared. We have long wondered what happened to the people of the First Imperium, what could have caused them to abandon their homes en masse…or die off so suddenly. We have considered many possibilities. Disease, reproductive issues, some sort of