In the House of War

By John Alleyn

Two hundred years ago, humanity was conquered by the alien Khedai. The aliens brought peace and prosperity, at the cost of human freedom. Some of us embrace the alien empire, others resent it, but no one can escape from it. We are forced to live in a cage the size of the world, watching others travel to the stars while we are confined to the Earth.

 

Aminata Ndoye is one of the few humans who have ever earned a place as an officer aboard an alien starship. On her first deep-space assignment, she finds herself in the middle of a war, fighting to preserve Khedai sovereignty over the vassal species of their empire. Unfortunately, it may not be the enemy that brings her career to an abrupt and violent end . . .

 

"In the House of War" is a space-opera novella, about 19,200 words in length.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Alleyn
• Release date: Sep 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201541415

John Alleyn

John Alleyn is a husband, father, freethinker, skeptic, philosophical theist, educator, bureaucrat, mathematician, white-hat hacker, amateur historian, freelance writer, Freemason, and occasional bingo caller. In a former life he wrote and edited several books for the tabletop roleplaying game industry. He now writes original work in the hard science fiction, space opera, and historical fantasy genres. He lives in suburban Maryland with his wife, two children, and (strangely enough) no cats.

Book preview

The purpose of war is to support your government’s decisions by force.

Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Chapter One (Ṣafar, 1712 AH – September, 2282 CE)

When the passenger ship Light of Oshur docked, Aminata was one of the first to debark, her baggage scurrying along obediently at her heels. Her space-black uniform and new subaltern’s starburst put pride in her step. A momentary thrill struck as she crossed a line of light at the bottom of the ramp, the first human ever to set foot on Vidaruun Station.

Today is the day my life truly begins, she thought as she looked around.

Nothing could have prepared her.

She had finished her training on Danaam, a wild frontier world, but one where thousands of humans lived and worked. Vidaruun was something else entirely, a thoroughly civilized star system, part of the Hegemony for more than a million years. No human barbarian had ever before been seen there. Two minutes after she left Light of Oshur, Aminata found herself drowning in foreignness.

Creatures moved past her on two legs, on four, on six or more, a variety of gaits to confuse her vision. They peered at her with two eyes, with many eyes, with no eyes at all. Some loomed slowly over her, while others rushed past like small children in a hurry. A cacophony of voices sounded, many of them speaking some version of the koiné, others seeming instead to chirp, rumble, or strum.

The consensus gravity dragged at Aminata’s feet. The lights were never quite bright enough. The air was a little too cold and dry, a little too oxygen-rich, for comfort – and the scents! She caught traces of fresh-baked bread, ozone, jasmine, hot asphalt, citrus, rotting meat, a dozen less identifiable odors, changing from moment to moment with every shift of the breeze.

It went on forever. She walked for over an hour, trying not to gawk like a yokel. Her feet began to ache, and her brain threatened to shut down under the flood of new impressions. Then she finally thought to query the local net and get a map of the whole station. What she discovered led her to sit down on a nearby bench, her legs refusing to carry her any further for the moment.

She hadn’t left the port’s primary concourse yet.

Enough. Aminata found an eating establishment, had it read her bio and cultural profiles and print up a passable thiéboudiène. The meal restored her, as did the chance to get off her feet for a while. Afterward, another query to the net led her to a transport tube. Ten minutes later, she reached the far end of the station and another docking ring.

With not quite an hour to spare, she arrived at the proper access ramp.

The crewmen on guard duty were azuri, bipedal creatures who vaguely resembled short, burly humans, although they boasted four bright-red eyes and an extra pair of arms each. They examined her as she approached their guard post, alert but with no expression she could read. As soon as Aminata reached the proper distance, they formed up and bowed to her in unison.

She made her own bow in response, carefully measured for a very junior officer to enlisted crew. Subaltern Aminata Ndoye, reporting for duty.

Yes, honored, said the senior sentry in a deep, rumbling voice, rising from his bow. May I respectfully request your orders?

Aminata produced the requisite card from a pocket, handing it to the crewman. He took it and placed it on his desk’s interface, calling up a set of documents for quick review. A few moments later, he touched controls to sign and time-stamp the orders.

"Everything is in order, honored. Welcome to Kadavi."

Thank you, crewman.

Commander Ajeras wishes to see you at once. May I have your baggage delivered to your quarters?

Aminata agreed, exchanged another polite bow, and stepped across the dividing line between station and ship. Finally, she was aboard her first active-duty assignment, over fifty parsecs from home.

KADAVI. A Hegemony fleet escort, designed to run interference for a capital ship during combat, taking out incoming drones before they could reach the larger and more valuable target. It resembled a rough cylinder, tapered fore and aft, with a hammerhead at each end. Two hundred meters in length, about thirty-five across. A little over six hundred officers and crew served aboard, most of them of the azuri, sarvasha, and taanarim species.

Now it also carried one extremely junior human.

Aminata had familiarized herself with the ship’s layout in advance, but experience proved more confusing than theory. Fortunately, her aide implant had already interfaced with the ship’s net, activating her officer’s credentials. A fast query pointed her in the right direction. She moved through corridors, trying not to look overwhelmed, ignoring the curious gazes of odd-shaped officers and crew. Within a few minutes, she stood outside the Commanding Officer’s door.

She signaled, waited, and waited some more. She had just about decided to signal again, no matter the risk to protocol, when the door opened. She advanced into the room, stopped at the correct distance from the Commander’s desk, and bowed more deeply than she had at the access ramp. Subaltern Aminata Ndoye, honored, reporting for duty.

Commander Ajeras was sarvasha, a tall, rangy biped with big night-hunter’s eyes and the teeth of an obligate carnivore. It glanced up from the documents hovering over the surface of its desk, offering no acknowledgement of her salute. Instead, it stared at Aminata, examining her closely for a long minute. She could read nothing from its face or its body language.

Human, it said at last, speaking the koiné with a breathy, hissing accent. I am surprised to find one of your species assigned to this battle group.

Its