Starship Vengeance

Chapter 1

***A/N***

Wattpad keeps removing the story description so I'm adding a note for all those who are reading my stories for the first time. This is the second book in what i hope to be a trilogy. If you haven't read the first book, I highly recommend doing so before continuing with this one.

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I sat in my office reflecting on everything that had happened since I joined the Battle Fleet. So much had happened that had led me to this point. I had lost friends fighting an ancient evil. I made peace with another sentient race that had been fighting the Zrynt since before humans had written history. I had loved, lost and fought, and now I was trying to orchestrate the largest exodus in human history. How do you move almost a billion people halfway across the galaxy? The largest and strongest Zrynt ship we had encountered was on its way to Earth, and everyone on Earth was too busy bickering to care.

Right after my meeting with the leaders of Earth, I contacted the Tuleeriri and requested their assistance. Queen Shaniir was gracious enough to offer a helping hand. We had brought along a small energy to matter, or EMC, and a small supply of nanites to assist with any needed repairs. I had immediately deployed both. They were in the process of building a massive shipyard. I was struggling to focus on the task at hand. I checked the status of the nanites. They estimated another day before shipbuilding could begin. I jumped when I heard a knock on my door. My fleet was still deployed, trying to keep the peace, so I knew it wasn't my commanders. I opened the door to find Lisa staring at me.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" she asked.

"Not at all" I answered. "To be honest, I need to get my mind of things for a while."

I led her to the conference table and we sat next to each other. She seemed especially nervous. "Is everything all right?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked in return.

I gestured to her hands which she was wringing in her lap. She quickly laid them palm down and laughed nervously. "Why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" I said as I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She laid her hand on top of mine and stared at me for a moment.

She took a deep breath and said, "Promise me that you will not say or do anything until I'm finished."

That was never a good beginning. I slowly pulled my hand away and stared at her intensely. "I have a feeling that I'm not going to like what you are going to tell me, but...I promise."

She took a shaky breath and said, "To truly understand what I'm going to tell you, I need to explain a few things. What you have been told about the start of the Great War was a lie." She saw I was about to say something so she placed a finger on my lips. "You promised remember?" When she was satisfied that I wouldn't interrupt she went on. "Galactum was discovered before the Lunar Colony was ever established. In fact, that is why it was built where it was. A survey crew was sent to find the best location when then stumbled on an alien craft deep beneath the surface. A consortium of governments pushed to colonize the moon and secretly funded a research group to excavate the ship. My grandfather was the leader of that group.

When the found the ship, they found the stockpile of Galactum inside. They spent years analyzing everything on board. The finally found a way to translate the records that had been left by the ship's creators. What they learned would change humanity forever. My grandfather believed that this information should be kept secret and the ship destroyed. Unfortunately, the others in the group believed differently. There were various reactions to the information on Earth. Some believed like my grandfather, while others wanted to use the information for personal gain, while others wanted to spread the information feely. Knowing he was fighting a losing battle, my grandfather went into hiding. The Great War was never about Galactum, at least not directly. The information that my grandfather tried so hard to keep secret was about the origin of mankind, and the existence of the Zrynt." To say I was speechless would be an understatement. Part of me wanted to believe that she was joking or lying, but she knew things that no one else could know.