Aboard the Julius Caesar, Grand Admiral Cassius seethed with pride and elation. With a victorious shout, he leaped from his command shell.
Highborn officers glanced at him. Their eyes radiated intensity as their muscled chests swelled and their biceps repeatedly flexed, making their uniformed sleeves ripple.
“We are the Highborn!” Cassius shouted, slapping his thick chest. “From primordial days, to antiquity, to medieval times, to the Age of Reason—all the way to our modern era, none have possessed our greatness. We crush those who dare to take a stand against us.” As he spoke, Cassius raised his large right hand and curled his fingers into a fist, shaking it and snarling another savage laugh.
“The premen proved too puny for us,” Cassius told his officers. “Therefore, the universe threw up a tougher challenge—the cyborgs. They are hideous creatures, as much machine as flesh, coldly rational and soulless. Their powered strength almost matches our reckless vitality. But they lack our iron will, our relentless need to dominate. Thinking circuitry tireless, they have forgotten that an exalted spirit can fire a warrior to divine acts of glory.”
“Look!” roared Cassius, pointing at his holoimages. “Marvel at what our strength has achieved in such a short time.”
The other Highborn rose to their feet. Like kingly lions, they approached the expanded holoimages. They grinned and laughed aggressively.
Cassius put his hands on his hips and exuded in the achievement of the first phase. His heart swelled with thumping pride. Did the cyborgs think to smash the jewel of Earth? Well, they would have to think again.
Seventeen asteroids or debris-clusters appeared as holoimages. The rearmost five asteroids showed something else—incredibly long exhaust plumes that disappeared into the bridge’s bulkheads.
“We attacked five asteroids,” Cassius said. “We successfully stormed each and conquered each, ripping them out of weak titanium hands.”
“The cyborgs are filth,” a Highborn said.
“They are genocidal freaks,” said a second.
“We have put our boots on their armored torsos,” spoke a third.
“What about the other twelve asteroids?” another asked. “We still have to deal with them.”
Everyone on the bridge turned and stared at the speaker, an older Beta Highborn, a mere seven feet tall. The Beta Highborn scowled as he hunched his head. Stubbornly, he said, “Those twelve are still headed for Earth. And they will soon hit the planet.”
“Ah, Marcus Maximus,” said Cassius.
The other Highborn chuckled. Maximus was Marcus’s nickname, a slur on his inferior size and status. Cassius kept him on the bridge as a reminder that first there had been the Beta Highborn, a weaker subset of a superior breed. Marcus worked hard to maintain his rank, and he provided moments of amusement such as this because he lacked the raw power of a completed Highborn.
“Five isn’t even one third of the asteroid-strike,” Marcus said.
“Tell me, Maximus, what waits in our bays?”
Marcus Maximus’s head hunched just a little more as his scowl deepened, putting lines in his rugged features. “The bays hold armored shuttles, Grand Admiral,” Marcus said.
“And?” prompted Cassius.
“In the shuttles await Highborn commandoes.”
Cassius grinned. The five long plumes showed that on each captured asteroid the fusion cores worked. The plan moved according to schedule.
At that moment, a red flash winked among the holoimages.
“Back to your stations,” Cassius said. “We have a fight to finish.”
As the others returned to their posts, Cassius strode to his shell and reentered it, strapping in. He opened channels, having recognizing the call sign of Admiral Gaius. The Admiral’s holoimage appeared, showing his white uniform, Red Galaxy Medal and the short bill of his cap low over his eyes.
“There’s possible trouble,” Gaius said.
Cassius raised his eyebrows.
“The preman on D have monitored signals from the other asteroids,” said Gaius, “from the cyborg-controlled rocks.”
“And these cyborg rocks show…what?” asked Cassius.
“Interior explosions,” Gaius said, “likely of the fusion cores.”
The fierce joy and exaltation drained from Cassius.
“Given their mass and nearness to Earth,” Gaius said, “it will take many outer explosions to nudge those asteroids off course.”
Cassius thoughts were in turmoil and now flashed from item to item. Perhaps there had been a miscalculation. Or maybe the sequencing of the accelerating asteroids—he snapped forward. “Which captured asteroid first employed the cyborg-engines?”
“…I believe it was Asteroid E,” Gaius said.
“The Jovians,” whispered Cassius. His eyes narrowed. Marten Kluge led them, the ex-shock trooper.
“Do you suspect treachery?” asked Gaius.
Cassius stabbed a button. “Attention, Admiral Gaius of the Genghis Khan, Admiral Octavian of the Gustavus Adolphus and Vice-Admiral Mandela of the SU Fifth Fleet, report at once for a four-way.”