Free The Alpha Choice by M.D. Hall

barbaric monsters, or so everyone was led to believe. He had no reason to doubt Jaron, so why had he and all his contemporaries been taught something so fundamentally wrong. If, he thought, the Balg are as powerful as Jaron is suggesting , why didn’t they make incursions into our space? Why did they never invade Te-ath itself? Now was not the right time to press the point. Jaron was an intelligent man who would have analysed the incident from every angle, and his logic was unassailable. He must have asked himself these very questions, yet was not prepared to voice them. Considering all he’s told us this evening, he has to have a very good reason , Gorn concluded.
    Even at fifteen, Gorn was not given to speculation, but he was still tempted to think that what Jaron withheld had to be something capable of frightening both mothers, both boys, most likely all of them. He had not previously given Jaron much thought, but tonight he decided he liked him, perhaps because he was someone who cared, but more likely because he trusted Gorn to behave, and act responsibly with the dangerous information he had imparted.
    Forced to think about what Jaron had said, he accepted that he was closer to Genir than anyone else, but he was unable to imagine a time when he would trust anyone enough, to divulge all his thoughts and feelings. If that day ever came, would the recipient be Genir who, for all his loyalty and camaraderie, could never fully understand and, therefore, never share his aspirations and dreams? He was unsure. He also suspected the sacrifice Jaron had made, in showing mercy at Gallsor was lost upon his son, it was not lost upon Gorn.  
    He watched as the reluctant Gallsor hero regarded his son and, for just a moment, Gorn was sure he saw fear etched in the man’s face. When Jaron shifted his gaze to the son of his erstwhile close friend, Gorn read clearly what was written in that same face; the older man was placing his trust in him to look after Genir. The boy nodded slightly and, in return, received an imperceptible smile.
    Gorn understood the importance of this gesture by the adults, and what it must have taken for them to reveal these secret matters. He stood and went to Jaron, holding out his hand to the older man. ‘Thank you sir, I will carry what you have said to me, always.’  
    Jaron took the proffered hand in a not too firm grip. ‘Probably just anxious parents, being over protective,’ he smiled.
    The two boys then took up the academy embrace, which like every other academy ritual, had been learned by heart, and which amounted to taking hold of the other’s right arm, below the elbow, with their own right hand. The adults responded with the time honoured, obligatory applause and, for the remainder of the evening, it was as if nothing revelatory had been said.
    No one in that room had any idea that Jaron’s message was a piece of a jigsaw that would, ultimately, bring their people face to face with the greatest danger they had known in almost three thousand years.

Three years ago
    Telluria
    Δ
    He pulled into the space reserved for him, Hugo Black emblazoned on the wall, in large white letters, with the all-important word Partner below.
    Moments later he was handing his keys to George, the valet; a fifty-one year old ex marine who was the proud father of a very smart daughter, who despite the benefits of a scholarship to study physics, still needed support from a doting father. His meagre wage and military pension were never quite enough to cover the costs of her education, or his wife’s soaring medical bills.
    George’s wife had been the victim of a subway attack eighteen months before. While the physical injuries had healed, the nightmares continued, and she needed expensive monthly psychiatric sessions. He had inherited one hundred and fifty-thousand dollars, after taxes, on the death of his mother, three years ago. The money had been wisely invested, and was always meant to fund his daughter through