Chapter 3

For a long time Styne held the communicator in his hand, staring at it. The concept of sacrifice had been ridiculed in Sontaran circles - there was no point to it, no understanding. And if it could not be understood, then it was of no concern. But now, after recent events and having witnessed Lar's selfless act, Styne could now appreciate the irony and was determined to make good his promise to his fallen brother.

Though he felt responsible, he would not blame himself for Lar's death. He could not, for the blame lay with those who had seen fit to conceal a murder on their own planet, and justified the deaths of others under the name of the Empire. And that Empire was now tainted.

Styne examined the communicator more closely. Various touch keys sat below a mini-screen. The basic principle for operating it was standard. He activated it, and keyed in the appropriate functions. Styne hadn't expected too many problems with it, but he paused at the request for a password. 'Now, Lar would have prepared for this,' he thought. 'Something obvious, but only to those who knew him.' He keyed in STYNE.

ACCESS DENIED

He tried again; SONTARAN.

ACCESS DENIED

He thought for a moment, then remembered. TRUTH

CONFIRMED

A myriad of colours lit up the mini-screen as the computer searched through numerous servers and displays. Finally the colours dispersed to reveal two unnamed files. Styne opened the first one. This was a visual file, and the screen changed to show the smiling face of Lar.

"Styne. I decide to record this message in case . . . in case there was trouble. You were correct, the recording did survive. The quality is not perfect, but I believe you will know what to do once you hear it. If we do not meet again, my brother, always remember to follow the correct path and the truth will guide you." The screen went blank.

Styne nodded. "Yes, Lar. I shall follow that path." Nonetheless, he paused before opening the second file. Then he remembered Lar's sacrifice, and the file was activated.

As expected, the quality of the recording was patchy at best. Unmistakable sounds of battle echoed from the tiny speaker. But the words came through clearly enough. "I have a confession to make," came the voice of the Sontaran Commander. "During the battle I deserted my post, but it was not of my choosing. An alien captured myself, a human and a Draconian. Its purpose was to test our abilities. The strongest would be allowed to survive." Styne listened in rapt attention. "Instead the three of us worked together to defeat our common foe. Yes, we worked together.

"The human and the Draconian behaved with honour. Can it be that such opposing races are not so different? Could a co-existence be possible? I only knew them for a short time, but I find my perceptions have changed."

A few seconds of static burst through the audio for a moment, then it cleared. Just from the sound, Styne could tell that the Commander was in his last moments of life. The gasping breaths were interspersed with the sound of someone approaching. The footsteps halted, and Styne realised that this newcomer was standing over the fallen Commander.

The sound of a Sontaran sidearm screamed across the air, ending a life. Then a crack of metal under a trooper's boot broke the microphone. But instead of ending the recording, it continued. "Sontaran scum," came a new voice. "I might have expected better from you, but such a slur against the Sontaran Empire cannot go unpunished."

Styne halted the recording. Disbelief, followed by uncertainty and doubt hung over him like a dead weight. The stark reality, for so long hidden away under decades of false myth and legend, was revealed. Any remaining doubts on Styne's part were now replaced by a steely resolve. "I know my duty - and my honour. I shall not fail."

*****

Lieutenant Varg was troubled. Ever since he had given his report on the Iargan incident, he had kept his distance from Commander Styne. The two of them had worked together for some time, and to report those events had seemed like a betrayal.

"Varg."

He turned to face his superior. "Commander, I regret my actions. I . . . "

"Lieutenant, you had your duty. I would expect nothing more." This was true, but for Varg it didn't make this conversation any easier. However, Styne seemed prepared to continue. "I have missed much of late. What are the latest patrol reports?"

"I . . . I cannot discuss this."

"Varg?"

"I have been reassigned," he explained. "I have been ordered not to discuss anything of a sensitive nature with you."

"I see." Styne thought for a moment. "But Varg, how can it be sensitive information if the event has passed?"

It seemed to be standard practice for Lieutenants like Varg not to rise above their rank. The general assumption was that they had been bred not to make decisions, just to follow orders. Other commanders might have tolerated Varg, but Styne had always treated him as an equal. Even now, he was trying to persuade Varg to think on his feet. Not to catch him out on some pretext, but to encourage him. "Your argument is a sound one, Commander," he admitted. "Yesterday we travelled to the Alsion cluster."

"And?"

"All was quiet for much of the patrol. Then in the final hour we came upon a space cruiser in neutral space." Varg paused. "Our orders were to open fire. The cruiser was completely destroyed. No survivors."

Styne sighed. "Hardly a glorious death for them."

"Commander?"

"Varg, for what reason did the patrol go the Alsion cluster?"

"To create a tactical advantage in our war against the Rutan." Varg had recited the answer word for word, like a mantra.

Styne tried again. "Varg, the Alsion cluster is too far a distance to matter as far as the war is concerned. So how can it be deemed to be of military importance?" He could sense Varg struggling to accept this fact. It was how he had felt at first, he remembered. "You know as well as I where the agreed borders lie in the war. And yet time and again our patrols have travelled beyond those lines."

Styne paused, and looked at Varg. The Lieutenant remained silent, not wishing to agree, but reluctant to speak out. "Varg, you know your duty. But do you also recognise your honour?"

*****

The summons had not been entirely unexpected. After recent events, Styne was not surprised. He had been lax in covering his tracks and would have to do better.

"Ah, Styne. Enter." He did so, stood to attention and waited. The Grand Marshall approached. "Our previous meeting was left unfinished."

Styne said nothing. "If I remember correctly from Lieutenant Varg's report," the Marshall continued, "you ordered that no further engagements were to be initiated. Is this correct?"

"Yes, Grand Marshall."

"And what gave you the right to make such an order?"

Styne looked the Marshall squarely in the eye. "The honour of the Sontaran Empire."

The Grand Marshall stared, open-mouthed. "You overreach yourself, Commander," he warned, recovering his composure. "You, what do you know of honour?" There was no reply. "I have seen death and carnage, Styne. More than you will ever know. You think I became Grand Marshall by right? By privilege? No, it was days and nights fighting to bring our race out of the slum. Our Empire was created on the battlefield, and since then I have fought to preserve it as the powerful symbol that it is today. And it survives through strength. Any sign of weakness has to be . . . "

"Destroyed?" offered Styne.

"Yes, destroyed." The Marshall latched onto that single word. "Our strength comes from power, and through that power we achieve greatness. That is our right!"

"Eliminate the weak." Styne rallied.

"Yes."

"Punish the unworthy."

"Of course."

Styne paused. "No matter what the cost."

"Yes!" The Grand Marshall realised his slip immediately. "No, I . . . "

"You would do anything to preserve your ideals, Grand Marshall," Styne said bitterly. "Even to the extent of murdering your own kind."

"You dare!" ranted the Marshall. "You dare accuse me. You, who thought your assignations with the Myo went unnoticed!"

"I deny nothing," Styne declared. "At least the Myo are honest."

"Freaks! A stain that should have been wiped from our culture long ago."

"They are our heritage. They are our truth!"

"Truth?" The Grand Marshall advanced on Styne. "Your association with them has contaminated your brain. Commander? Hah! You are no more than Sontaran scum!"

"How the guilty condemn themselves," remarked Styne.

For a moment the Grand Marshall was nonplussed. Then he realised his choice of words. The words he uttered long ago as a Sontaran Commander lay dead at his feet. "But that recording was destroyed!"

Styne regarded his superior with contempt. "Your whole life has been a lie, and your beliefs have tainted what was once a great Empire."

"No! I did it for Sontara, for our people."

"What you did was unforgivable." Styne paused. "It was you who declared the cloning process as the next great step. The future for our race. You divided our people, and shunned those who dared to live as individuals. You denied our ancestry.

"During one of our great battles, you happened upon one of our own - a Commander, mortally wounded. He might have lived, but because of his chance encounter with other species, and your narrow minded ideals, you murdered him."

"He was a danger to our future," the Grand Marshall protested.

"Or the key to it," Styne countered. "And now, you order patrols out to the farthest reaches of the known galaxies, far beyond the recognised borders, to annihilate other races for no other reason than to impose your will - a show of strength against solitary worlds who never knew of our war with the Rutan."

"Strategic advantages!" The Grand Marshall was babbling now.

"All lies, to suit your version of how history will remember us."

"Perhaps," the Grand Marshall conceded. "But you, Styne, will not survive to see it happen." And he smiled. "Though you and I are both unarmed, you will find that Varg is not."

Styne spun around to see Lieutenant Varg enter the Marshall's office, his sidearm raised. "You see, Styne, I heard your conversation with your former Lieutenant - listening devices are so vital in high office - and it seems that Varg has decided where his loyalties lie." He turned to Varg. "We have an intruder here, Lieutenant. What do we do with intruders?"

"We shoot them, Grand Marshall." Varg's face was impassive.

"Then do your duty, Varg. Shoot him down!"

For a moment no one moved. The three of them stood silently, each watching the other. "Varg, I gave you an order."

Varg hesitated, unsure.

"Lieutenant," the Grand Marshall bellowed. "This intruder is dangerous! A threat to the continued existence of the Sontaran race! Kill him!"

Varg turned to face Styne. "I know my duty." Then to the Grand Marshall. "But I also recognise my honour." Sidearm raised, he fired. Twice.

The Grand Marshall stared in horror and surprise as the discharge from the energy bolts enveloped him. Then he fell to the floor, dead.

Styne let out a deep breath. "For a moment I thought you had made your choice."

"I had," Varg admitted, "but I believe I have now chosen correctly." They looked down at the body. "What happens now? Is this the end?"

Styne shook his head. "No, not the end. This day marks the start of a new chapter on Sontara. But we must tread carefully."

"I don't understand, Commander."

"Varg, the Empire as we know it still exists. Together, we have taken the first steps in restoring it to its former glory."

"But the Grand Marshall is dead . . . "

"And another will follow him," Styne reminded him. "Possibly with the same ideals."

Varg was shocked. "Then what have we accomplished? And what can we do, a lone Commander and his Lieutenant?"

Styne smiled. "Varg, if I have learned anything in these days past, I know that we are not alone. There will be others like us, perhaps born from the same hatchings as ourselves, who believe as we do. They need to be traced. And there are the Myo; Purebloods who can teach us the true history of our race."

The two of them march out from the recently deceased Grand Marshall's office. Varg was still full of questions. "You once asked me why do we fight. But what are we fighting for now? For power or glory?"

"Neither," Styne replied. "We fight for the honour of the New Sontaran Empire."

And they walked on, to a new future.

THE END?