They loaded what medical equipment they could recover and returned it to the front line soldiers. Before returning to the Hemingway and flying back to the Dependency blockade, John ordered the retrieval of four Elysian bodies per Dr. Halven Derat’s recommendation. He also ordered a search of the crash site. Any military secrets they found meant earned advantages and may result in saving more lives.

  Within hours upon returning to the Hemingway, Dr. Halven Derat examined the Elysians and discovered something startling. Each Elysian bore a hidden brand. It was nanoscopic, beneath the skin.

  The markings were Hyperion, embedded identifiers. Each Elysian was tagged like property.

  Apparently that was all normal, according to Dr. Derat, as the Hyperions ruled over Elysians, but the other thing he found was extremely concerning.

  “They weren’t rogue units,” Dr. Derat said. “They were activated sleeper cells.”

  John stood over the Elysian corpses. They lined the room, laying beside each other on medical beds, their shoulders bandaged, legs stiff, faces unreadable. Their skin was perfect and their muscular form was immaculate.

  Sasha chimed. “It has the hallmarks of an ambush.”

  “How could they have known we were coming?”

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  “Unknown. Spies, likely.” Sasha said. “We’re close enough for their ships to angle a view. Unfortunately, that isn’t the most distressing part.”

  “What could possibly be worse?”

  “The soldiers we sent into the lift. They found a lab and enough food and water for twenty years. They found orders from Thariel—they’re timestamped thirty years old.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “We believe Thariel is growing Elysians inside underground cells and unleashing them once they are old enough or ready to attack their assigned targets.”

  “What does this mean?”

  “This is proof that Thariel has been planning this war for years. Who knows how long, exactly. This war wasn’t a product of rage, but cold calculation. There could be thousands of bunkers on the planet.”

  “This planet is Dependency protected. They couldn’t possibly hide a thousand bunkers for twenty years. How did this fly under the radar?”

  “Corruption may be the culprit.”

  John’s blood froze.

  “If they can hide Elysian cells on Dependency planets, what other planets are they hiding on?”

  “A disturbing possibility.”

  “You have to warn the Galactic Council. Warn President Bridges. Warn Fleet Admiral Valentine and the rest of command to scope Earth and its colonies…you never know.”

  “Yes, Arbiter.”

  John returned to Dr. Halven Derat who was in the process of examining a strange purple tentacle. He promptly sat it down when John entered, who said, “Can you produce more Serum 9-12x?”

  “Certainly.”

  “I want you to keep the ship updated with the latest batch. Fill all of the Astralis-9 combat suits. The war is heating up and we haven’t seen the last of the fighting.”

  Dr. Derat drew a grim expression. He nodded.