Covenant: The Rift Saga, #2

The story continues...

From the ashes of what used to be North America, a new nation was forged by survivors of the Fall, who descended from their Lunar colonies. They called this new nation the Covenant, and two centuries later, it is stronger than ever. The Moon people rule with an iron fist, to ensure their dominance, for the Covenant is a nation where a chosen few prosper at the cost of everyone else, who are forced to serve their masters their entire lives.

Sue and Dave are on the run with a price on their heads. They have both discovered deadly secrets that the Covenant must keep hidden in order to protect their long-term plans for world domination. Meanwhile, the power struggles within the factions of the Moon people reach new heights, and a new development is about to set the world on fire.

This is the second book in the Rift Saga, which is set more than two centuries after the events of Exodus.

Prologue

Mark

As Counselor Mark Novak glanced around the table, he took note of the people around him—the most influential of their political and military leadership. On this particularly eventful night, the citizens in the city of Legacy, the capital of the Covenant, went on with their lives, partying, as the Moon people usually did, even this late.

Meanwhile, this group of leaders gathered inside Strategos Command, the headquarters of the military leadership, was watching the big screen that covered the wall opposite the long table where Mark sat. Most of the military men and women carried the rank of Strategos, which among their enemies would translate to general or admiral. The political representatives were faction leaders of the Luna Council, the political assembly through which the heads of the great families of the Moon people governed.

Mark Novak, ever the adviser, the man behind the scenes, sat next to Head Servant Alexej Lunde, head of state, and the face of the Covenant leadership, appointed by the majority of the Luna Council. Mark noticed how a smile crept forth on his old friend’s lips, and how his eyes twinkled as he watched the screen.

Lunde had always advocated that the Covenant take a careful approach with Buchanan, their nemesis west of the Rift. They were armed with nuclear weapons, and a worthy adversary. But as for the North, he had been pushing for a shock strike like this throughout the last decade. Now his dream was finally coming true. The French were about to be destroyed, and the English of Buchanan would be contained.

The two old friends sipped from their glasses in silence, savoring the taste of fine whiskey, saved for such an occasion. And in Lunde’s case, probably savoring the moment, as well. Mark took a deep gulp, steadying his nerves, trying not to think of the carnage out there. He kept his eyes on the screen, watching as new and updated information came in from both the orbital platforms and from the forces on the ground.

A topographic map of the continent covered most of the screen, with a small square in the lower left corner explaining the symbols and colors. Mark didn’t look at the legend once. He knew the red dots marked the impacts, blue dots marked major battles, and the green marked areas under Covenant control. The green grew steadily as the French were driven further north and west, away from the border.

On top of the legend were numbers: red showed the number of enemy casualties, preliminary approximations, of course; while the green number, which represented Covenant soldiers, was much more accurate because the suit of every Covenant soldier transmitted vital data back to field command, as well as to Strategos Command in Legacy, allowing them to keep tabs on the big picture. Both numbers kept rising, although the red count was at least ten times higher. Mark tried not to think about the total enemy count the red number actually tracked—knowing it included the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

Another red dot appeared, flashing for a few seconds. Mark jumped as spontaneous applause broke out. This was the one they had been waiting for.

That’s Hudson gone, Lunde said loudly, his voice rising a pitch, and cheers went up from the others. Mark eyed him sideways.

The capital of the North, home of the French, was now nothing but a radioactive hole in the ground.

It had been planned for decades, but put off because of fear of the damage a full-scale nuclear attack would cause to the land and the atmosphere. Lunde’s faction in the Luna Council had pushed for this, supported by First Janissary Ivanov, who headed an even more militant wing. Finally though, Carl Hordvik had decided to side with Lunde, gaining him the upper hand. The more conservative Stanov and Petrovic factions were outnumbered at last.

The Covenant was meant to expand. It was their destiny.

Tonight’s attack meant the end of the northern threat. After just six hours of war, only small pockets of resistance remained. The westernmost groups of refugees would be allowed out, simply because the Covenant didn’t have the manpower to stop them all, but the rest would be captured or slaughtered. Mark felt the bile rising in his throat, but took another deep gulp of his drink and swallowed hard. He had known it would come to this, eventually.

You must be proud of your son, Head Servant Lunde said, never taking his eyes off the screen. Strategos Carl Hordvik, head of the Security Directorate, drew himself up, smiling for once.

He finally decided to grow up, it seems, Hordvik senior replied.

Mark watched the blue dots that represented Covenant units, scattered all over the screen. They showed how the might of the Covenant was spreading. Soon the blue dots would cover the entire North. One of those dots represented Evan Hordvik’s squad. He had just rejoined the Janissaries after his run-in with Ivanov, when then-Tacticus Atlas had been arrested. Evan had expressed a desire to return to combat duty, and while his application for officer training was being processed, he’d serve with his old unit in the Janissaries. Evan’s newfound ambition would make his father proud, Mark thought. For years, Evan had defied his father´s wishes, so this was a new development.

The Janissaries had flown north under the cover of night, deep into enemy territory, leaving only the greenest of initiates behind. The Covenant had gone all in, in order to crush the French within hours. Normally, the Janissaries guarded the northern borderlands, and other units seldom ventured north of the border, except on special occasions. This time, the attack was comprised of not just the Janissaries, but Moon people units, as well, in the thousands.

When planning the operation, someone had said that the Covenant would be vulnerable if Buchanan decided to use the opportunity to attack, with only the Wardens left to protect the border. But Mark knew that was not going to happen. His sources knew Buchanan would stay back, unless the war in the north dragged on. Anything could happen then. But the plan called for a complete victory within forty-eight hours, and so far, they were on schedule.

Another red dot appeared, and again a cheer arose. Mark watched the casualty numbers rising. The North was finished, and the Covenant had, in just a few hours, effectively doubled its territory. Also, it would soon be free of the one thing that had constrained them for so long. That fact troubled Mark, as he pondered what this would lead to in the immediate and long-term future. The Moon people believed they were destined to rule the world. And soon, there would be nobody left to stop them from achieving just that.

Chapter 1

Evan

Evan Hordvik trudged through the scorched dirt, ash coating his visor every few seconds, only to be removed by the tiny nanobots of his suit and helmet. The Geiger counts were skyrocketing, and meds were coursing through his veins in order to keep the effects of radiation at bay. The suit took the brunt of it, of course, but even so, there would be some nasty side effects for many of them in the long term.

He cleared his mind of it, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. They had medical technology to deal with most of the radiation-induced conditions, including most forms of cancer. Nothing to do about it now. Better to worry about hidden snipers and enemy holdouts. They could kill just as easily, and so much faster, than any radiation. He peered through the fallout, which decreased visibility to a few meters in front of him. They all relied heavily on the suits, not least of all when it came to detecting possible enemies. The suit would discover more than the eye could see, especially now. He watched his readouts on the virtual screen inside his helmet. So far, so good.

He thought of his father. Carl Hordvik had been so pleased to see his son assuming responsibility, after years of rebellion. And Carl was right; Evan was ready to assume responsibility. Evan was tired of watching the Moon people—his people—rot from the inside, from their decadence and privileges. His father probably didn’t see it that way, but Evan had seen the English in combat, he had seen the Janissaries, been a Janissary, and knew that no unit of Moon people could ever compete. Except, perhaps, the Luna Brigade.

He looked around. He couldn’t see their faces, but he knew them all by their demeanor, by the way they handled themselves. To his right was Laurie, an old friend of Sue’s from Charlestown, a replacement who’d joined them after they’d lost a man yesterday. To his left was Keisha, who had been in his squad before he was transferred to Strategos Command, a smart girl and fearless in battle. Behind them, Julian covered the rear. Back when Sue and Julian had been recruits, Julian had impressed Evan, as well as Sue, when the two of them had taken out a rocket launcher while the rest of the squad was pinned down by enemy fire.

Evan’s squad was only four-man strong, a typical Janissary solution when pressed for manpower. It was amazing that, with almost all of the Moon people’s military personnel at hand, the Janissaries were the ones that covered the most ground and took the toughest assignments. There were Janissaries spread out across the entire front, except for a small part far out in the East. There wasn’t much resistance left though. Most of the cities had been vaporized by nukes, and the few holdout enemy positions left were scattered out, far away from targets of high, strategic value. Even so, they had to be taken in order for the Covenant to assume total control of the North. The war had been won in just six hours, but the mop-up would take days or weeks.

There were dead and wounded northerners everywhere. Most of them were civilians, and once picked up, they were passed on to Moon people units for further processing. Evan noticed a family of four who sat huddled together by the road. One of the children looked like he was dead already, and the father was holding him tightly, while rocking back and forth, his face pale, mumbling quietly to himself, his eyes distant. The other child was burned badly on the left side of her face, and screamed relentlessly, while the weeping mother holding her could do nothing but sit and watch her child suffer. Evan felt sorry for them. These people had no stakes in the war. They had likely gone about their daily lives just yesterday, not knowing the horrors that awaited them once the Covenant unleashed its fury.

Sir, should we... Julian began, but Evan cut him off.

Nothing we can do. Our job is to secure this road, and that’s it. Now keep moving. These people will be processed in due time. He gritted his teeth, knowing that if they got too worked up from the things they saw, mood-stabilizing drugs would be entering their blood stream. It was a necessary protection, but Evan would rather delay the need for such mood suppressants for as long as possible. Of course, sooner or later they would need stimulants, and their suits would see to it that they got the proper dosages, but that was different. Stimulants were just part of being a Janissary, and a necessary aid that could mean the difference between life and death when pressed beyond their natural limits. Mood suppressants, though, had some nasty side effects, including reduced reaction speed and a long-term heightened risk of suicide.

Stay sharp, he said, taking a long step over a fallen body lying in the middle of the road. There might be enemies hidden among the civilians. If in doubt, shoot first. I’m planning to bring every one of you back home once this is done. Now move it.

Sue

Dave and Sue were well south of the Belt, the stretch of land separating the Corpus lands from the Covenant proper, making their way across the lush, green, rolling hills of the South. The Corpus lands were beautiful, as long as one didn’t think of what was going on there. Knowing tinged the beauty with bitterness. The Corpus Service was back breaking: work for hours upon hours