Alex Keemen’s "The Last Dawn," Summary

This book is a 2020 science fiction story that serves as a prequel to the "Birth of the Gods" series. The plot follows the difficult moral choice of Commander Delion, who is forced to sacrifice his own fleet and an entire inhabited planet to save a small group of civilians and fulfill a cruel military order. The main action focuses on the events within the control room of the flagship battleship during a surprise invasion by the ruthless Seprov Empire. The enemy uses the bodies of the captured soldiers as biological symbiotes.

The beginning of the storm

Space Squadron Commander Delion awakens from a slight jolt aboard his battleship. A piercing battle alarm sounds. A blinding fiery glow blooms on the viewscreen. The Commander arrives on the bridge and takes over the watch from Lieutenant Stelon. The crew reports 100% readiness of the energy shields and combat systems. Analyst Kahn detects an anomalous fluctuation in quantum foam at a range of 850 units. The bearing of the origin is 28°, elevation 57°.

This physical phenomenon blocks the electromagnetic communications band. The battleships’ movement becomes impossible. Cyberneticist Kelen reports the forecasts of the ship’s artificial intelligence, Filin. Communication should be restored in ten minutes. External control specialist Likma is unable to obtain reliable readings from the onboard gravitometers. AI Filin attributes the failure to a quantum fluctuation with a 77% probability. Analyst Kan doubts this theory. The commander realizes the terrible truth: the onboard intelligence is infected with enemy viral code.

The engineers open the protective control panels. Kelen, her hands shaking, initiates an emergency core integrity check. The cyberneticist dictates the check code: "Alpha. Blue. Omen. Twenty-five." The ship shudders, and the emergency siren fills the control room. Fire crews report the destruction of data highways "B" and "C." The infected Owl has been eliminated to save the battleship’s onboard systems. The cyberneticist lifts the quarantine on the fifth data well and prepares to launch the backup intelligence.

Likma switches the gravity field scanners to analog mode. Analyst Kan calculates the recovery time. Calculations indicate a delay of at least one hour. The scanners detect a powerful disturbance at a range of three thousand units. The Sepras have delivered a long-awaited, but unexpected, strike. The Inok planet defense station is not yet complete. Without full automation, Delion personally alerts the crew of sharp fluctuations in the gravity vector. The flagship sends manual analog requests to the rest of the squadron.

The cruisers Ziran and Intrepid appear on the screen. The destroyer Swift, commanded by Pantora, Delion’s own son, also responds. A pulsating red dot appears on the edge of the tactical monitor. It’s a tiny enemy saboteur ship. It’s been flying through deep space without protective shields for weeks to create a quantum storm. Delion orders the main battery to open fire. The enemy saboteur is destroyed by a direct plasma salvo.

The Tolan backup AI is launched. It detects the approach of the Sixth Fleet of the Seprov Empire’s task force. The enemy armada is flying at a range of 2,940 units. Radars detect three battleships, five heavy cruisers, and twenty maneuverable destroyers. Delion realizes the imminent fall of the Inok base. About two thousand civilian specialists are stationed there. The commander orders the squadron’s light ships to prepare to evacuate the crew.

The Secret Directive and the Death of Enoch

The flagship battleship and the cruiser Ziran are to provide fire cover for the departing transports. Delion returns to his officer’s quarters. He looks longingly at a family photograph of his wife, Selina, and son, Pantora. Selina runs a large military hospital on Enoch. The commander initiates bio-identification of the safe. He unseals a classified plastic envelope containing a plan for a massive invasion. Reading the fine print of the Central Command directive, the officer freezes with mounting horror.

The brutality of the order leaves him weak and shaking violently. The plastic carrier of classified information turns black and crumbles to ash. Compliance with the command directive demands the preservation of the flagship battleship at all costs. Delion contacts the bridge. He rescinds his previous order to rescue the smaller ships. Now the entire available squadron is obligated to cover the flagship. The battleship will be responsible for the evacuation of the remaining personnel on Inok. The crews of the remaining ships are doomed to become victims of the enemy’s superior forces.

A heavy battleship hovers above the planet’s surface. Transport boats pick up the last refugees. The squadron’s ships perish in the unequal battle. The cruiser "Fearless" breaks in two under crossfire. The destroyer "Singer" expends its entire thermonuclear payload and rams the enemy flagship’s conning tower. Delion establishes an unstable video link with the base under attack. A tired Selina appears on the screen.

The wife reports the completion of the evacuation of children and civilian personnel. Selina herself remains with the last group of one hundred and fifty-seven doctors and engineers. The transports need another seventy seconds to return to the battleship. At that moment, the cruiser Ziran explodes, turning into a ball of flame. The battleship’s armorer momentarily lowers the protective field to allow the returning boats to dock. SEP fighters take advantage of the defense vulnerability. The battleship takes a direct hit in the second compartment.

The transport highway catches fire, depressurizing the decks. The second main battery unit suffers serious structural damage. The weapon’s effectiveness drops to thirty percent. Kan reminds Delion of the terrible fate of the captives. The remaining humans on the planet will inevitably become biological hosts for the Sepran parasites. The destroyer Swift breaks through to the general communications system. Captain Panthor reports a catastrophic loss of power on his ship. He begs his father to leave the sector immediately.

The son manages to say goodbye before he dies. The signal is cut off forever. Delion gives the most difficult order of his military career. The main battery directs a plasma salvo directly at Enoch. The thriving, habitable world turns into a seething fireball. The battleship takes another brutal blow from the Seprs. The main cannon is completely destroyed. The commander orders the navigator to initiate an emergency acceleration to enter hyperspace.

Preparing for retribution

In his cabin, Delion studies unfolded star charts with analyst Kahn. Nearly two thousand refugees are aboard the damaged ship. The commander is considering how to carry out a classified order. The instructions call for the neutralization of a specific star system on the edge of the sector. It contains a hidden planet with a population of eight billion sentient beings and a prime hyperspace jump point. If the Sepras capture this pristine world, the Empire will gain a massive symbiote army.

The lack of a working main battery makes shelling the planet impossible. Other military solutions must be sought. Lieutenant Kan proposes using the ship’s zeta emitters in boost mode. This technical procedure will slow down the thermonuclear fusion in the core of the local star. The local sun is a yellow dwarf. Iskin Tolan is calculating the mathematical efficiency of the proposed plan.

The emitters will cause critical destabilization of the star in thirty-five days and eighteen hours. SEP reconnaissance will detect the system no sooner than forty-eight days later. The success rate of the covert operation exceeds eighty percent. Delion approves Kahn’s plan and dismisses the lieutenant to the bridge. Near the exit doors, the analyst is making out with a beautiful young woman. The stranger enters the cabin and introduces herself as Riyama.

The girl previously worked as a surgeon in the destroyed Inok hospital. Through tears, she confesses to her secret meetings with Panthor. Riyama is carrying the deceased captain’s child. Delion will have a grandson of his own. The stern, grown warrior cannot contain his emotions and tightly embraces the crying girl. They sit for a long time on the soft couch. The commander and the doctor share their grief over their loss. Riyama goes to the cargo deck to join the other refugees. Delion asks Tolan for lists of safe worlds.

Anomalous Triple World

A series of grueling hyperspace jumps takes the remnants of the squadron five full days. The battleship reaches the borders of the unnamed system. Orbital probes collect astonishing data. The system contains three central planets in a common habitable zone. These worlds orbit a common center of mass. They share a breathable atmosphere. The gravitational differential at the center is only zero two tenths of a unit.

The vast space between planets is filled with thousands of floating rocky asteroids. Kan marvels at this boundless celestial ocean with its floating islands. The lack of stable jump points makes this world an ideal refuge for defenseless refugees. Imperial scouts would spend centuries blindly searching for the hidden system in normal space. Delion forbids the use of long-range ship communications. A stray signal would inevitably attract the attention of a prowling enemy.

The commander requests a roster of his depleted crew. Excluding the military landing party, exactly three hundred soldiers remain on board. Delion forms a small boarding party. He orders sailors with small children to be included. The landing craft prepares for imminent launch. Riyama and Lieutenant Kan stand near the open cargo ramp. Delion, with a direct order from an officer, forces the valuable analyst to abandon the doomed battleship.

The lieutenant protests the flagrant violation of regulations. The officer is forced to submit to the commander’s stern will. Riyama clings to her savior’s chest. She vows to name her unborn son Pantor in honor of the fallen hero. The cutter departs for a safe system. The transport carries the rescued civilians and a handful of soldiers. The flagship completes the final jump to its target star.

The Commander’s Last Duty

Delion pores over an old report from an ethnographic research expedition. The chosen third planet has six spacious, green continents and azure oceans. It piercingly reminds Delion of his native Deoz. Eight billion intelligent beings peacefully inhabit this beautiful world. The locals are unaware of the threat of a terrible cosmic invasion. The Commander realizes the necessity of his impending monstrous sacrifice.

Three hundred loyal comrades will give their lives to artificially slow down fusion in an alien star. The battleship will perish along with the system. The explosion will create a supernova and destroy the planet. This tragedy will deny the enemy access to rich resources. The war will be deprived of billions of new symbiotes. The commander straightens his dress uniform in front of the dim mirror in the cabin. The officer, with a practiced movement, fastens the last buttonhole on his uniform collar.

Delion draws his award-winning dagger from its old sheath. He peers at its cold edge. The navigator reports to the bridge that the power systems and weapons circuits are operating perfectly. Exactly five hours remain until the final attack line is reached. Delion asks the duty operator to turn on the ship’s loudspeaker broadcast to all technical decks. The commander sighs and begins a long-written speech.