Haven Ascendant

by Robert M Kerns

  At the front of the space, a small stage with a podium stood. On the left side of the podium (from the audience’s perspective), there stood a table holding several scrolls secured by red ribbons and an array of small cases. At the appointed time, Cole stepped through the hatch and walked down the center aisle. Like every other spacer present, he wore his regular ship-board attire. He could’ve donned a suit tailored specifically for him that cost more than most people made in six months, but that wouldn’t have been appropriate to Cole. It wouldn’t have felt right.

  The low-level chatter faded as Cole stepped up to the podium. He looked out over the assembled people and nodded once in welcome and greeting. Then, he began his prepared remarks.

  “Thank you for being here today. We have assembled to inaugurate our own system of awards and decorations, and I will start by sharing with you a little about Commander Zara Khouri.

  "Zara Khouri was one of our first citizens; a single mother of two children, she came to us from Iota Ceti. She loved space and starships, testing high for the aptitudes necessary to excel in ship-board placements, and she was first in line when I put out the call for crew aboard Haven. As our fleet expanded, Zara transferred to other postings, always striving to conquer the next challenge. She beamed with barely contained joy when I offered her a promotion to full Commander and her first command, the destroyer Argyle.

  “Commander Zara Khouri conducted herself as the finest example of what it means to be both a person and a citizen in all facets of her life. She loved her career. She discussed and debated major policy issues facing our society, offering her opinion and thoughts in respectful, reasoned discourse, and there’s no doubt in my mind that her first thoughts after waking up and her last thoughts before going to sleep were of her two children, each and every day. I would have much preferred to present this citation to Commander Khouri in person, and we must never allow ourselves to forget the sacrifice she made.”

  Cole paused and cleared his throat, then continued, “Attention on deck.”

  Every spacer and marine present snapped to attention. The civilians present rose to their feet alongside them.

  “‘For conspicuous gallantry, honor, and bravery while serving in combat as Commanding Officer of the destroyer Argyle on 30 January 3004. When faced with a failing ship that threatened the entire fleet, Commander Khouri chose to sacrifice her own life to give her fellow spacers the best possible chance at survival…all while dealing a critical blow to the enemy fleet. The sole person aboard, and with an engine core progressing toward containment failure, she piloted the ship as close to the Coalition ships as possible in the time available. Commander Khouri’s actions dealt a considerable blow to the enemy fleet, ending the engagement and preventing further loss of life. At this time, I hereby name Commander Zara Khouri as the first recipient of our Medal of Honor and ask Lieutenant Commander Martin DeBlasio to present this citation and medal to Aliya Khouri.”

  Commander Khouri’s first officer stepped forward, and Cole handed him a rolled scroll secured by a red ribbon and a case. He pivoted and walked in a measured cadence to the front row where Commander Khouri’s children sat, extending the scroll and medal case to her daughter and oldest child. When Aliya accepted the items, he pivoted and stepped to an empty seat among the ranks of his former ship-mates.

  Cole retrieved the next scroll and case, starting the next citation.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Babylon Station

  Gateway

  5 March 3004, 09:00 GST

  At the appointed time, six delegates filed into the conference room. Each person represented a different system: Oriolis, Spark, Eta Anubis, Epsilon Anubis, Iota Anubis…and Tristan’s Gate. Cole was already waiting on them. The delegates’ identities and loyalties were previously confirmed through Kiksalik-assisted interviews.

  “Welcome,” Cole said, as he stood and shook hands with each delegate in turn. “I have received your letters of credence for this summit, and I accept them.” The six delegates took seats around the table.

  “The first topic we’d like to discuss,” the delegate from Oriolis immediately stated, “is technology transfer upon formally establishing the federation.”

  Cole allowed himself a small smile, saying, “Yes, I thought that might come up. The answer is no.” Every delegate bristled. “Beta Magellan will release specific technologies, in such fields as medicine and food production, but we will not—I will not—release any technologies that could even be tangentially related to weapons or drive systems.”

  “You would have us be that dependent upon Beta Magellan?” the delegate from Eta Anubis asked, almost a growl.

  Cole shrugged. “You already are. You simply don’t realize it…or perhaps refuse to admit it. The fact of the matter is, I have trust issues, and I do not believe that the wholesale release of the technology represented by Haven and its databases is a wise path to follow.”

  “Suppose we say there will be no federation without that tech?” the delegate from Spark asked. “What then?”

  Cole laughed. “Then there’s no federation. Your people came to me. The federation was never my idea, and you and your new system governments need to remember that. Your systems need Beta Magellan far, far more than Beta Magellan needs any of you, and people who believe I will allow the federation—if it ever exists at this point—to dictate terms to Beta Magellan aren’t just mistaken. They’re utter fools.”

  The delegates from the five liberated systems stared at Cole, and Cole felt a twinge of surprise that their jaws hadn’t dropped. The delegate from Tristan’s Gate—one Geralt Hanson, the former system president—simply sat back and enjoyed his associates’ collective discomfort.

  When no one spoke after several seconds, Cole scanned the faces looking back at him and asked, “So, would you like to take a break to regroup and write home for instructions?”

  Cole entered the temporary quarters he’d been assigned aboard Babylon Station and flopped into a chair. The delegates had chosen to ‘write home,’ as Cole put it, and he wasn’t looking forward to the delay. Heh…if it drew out too long, he’d just go back to Beta Magellan and let them wait until he gave enough of a hoot to come back. It wasn’t like they could do it without him. Cole grinned at the thought. Well, they could, he supposed, but the Coalition would move back in within weeks—maybe even days—of Cole pulling his forces out of those systems. The true kicker was that those systems’ delegates knew that, too.

  Cole’s implant alerted him to an incoming call from Sasha, and he smiled. That had been going very well the past few weeks, and he was glad he’d asked her on that first date. Accepting the call, Cole routed it through the overhead speakers.

  “Hey, Sasha,” Cole said.

  “Hey yourself,” Sasha replied. “Did the talks break for an early lunch or something?”

  “Heh, not so much…no.”

  Cole could almost hear the groan as Sasha said, “Oh, Cole…what happened?”

  “They went straight to demanding we share all our technology with them, and when I refused, they threatened to walk away from the talks and not found the federation. I laughed and said, ‘Go ahead. It wasn’t my idea anyway.’ Well, there were more words than that, but that’s the gist of it. I almost offered to pull our ships out of their systems, but I thought that might be going a little too far. They are supposedly writing home to see how their governments want to proceed.”

  “I don’t blame you for refusing to share all the technology Srexx gave us,” Sasha replied. “Some of that stuff is wicked scary.”

  “Tell me about it,” Cole agreed. “I found schematics for a planet-buster bomb in Srexx’s archives the other day. Almost scared my hair white when I realized what I was looking at. Can you imagine what the Coalition would do with something like that?”

  “Nothing good, I’m sure. So…since the talks have kind of stalled, you free for lunch?”

  Cole grinned, suspecting he knew what Sasha’s plans for dessert
were given the tone of her voice. “I do believe I have some availability in my schedule, yes.”

  “Great! When you’re ready for lunch, just come on by. We’ll order in.” Sasha’s voice was almost a purr now.

  The next morning, the delegates sent messages saying they had received replies from their respective governments and were ready to resume talks. The messages struck Cole as a bit snippy, and while he realized one should never apply emotional content to plain text, he also didn’t feel the same urgency about the whole federation idea that everyone else did. So, he thanked them for the update and left it at that.

  That afternoon, Cole and Sasha were touring the new arboretum on Babylon Station when Sasha asked, “So, how long are you going to let them twist in the wind?”

  Cole shrugged. “Not really sure. I know all of you said it was a good idea, but I’m really not seeing the benefit to Beta Magellan in all of it. I see only obligations and downsides. I mean, sure…we need to stop the Coalition, and this region of the galaxy does need stability. But I’m not all that convinced yet that Beta Magellan needs to be a formal part of it. I should tell them to form their own federation, and we’ll be here if they get their shorts caught in a shredder.”

  Sasha snickered. “You realize any federation they form on their own would have zero credibility, right? They don’t have the resources to protect themselves; why should anyone else expect them to protect others?”

  “Not our issue,” Cole countered. “I do not want us getting drawn into being who everyone runs to when they have a problem. Galactic threats, sure…we’ll step in and help defend everyone, and I do see the Coalition as a galactic threat, at least a threat to Humanity. But I refuse to allow everyone else to drag us down to their level.”

  “Okay,” Sasha said. “What happens when we encounter something we can’t defeat alone?”

  Cole sighed. “Then we’ll have a problem. If we can’t defeat whatever it is by ourselves, none of the systems that want to leech off us would make any difference. Heh…I wouldn’t be surprised if they turned tail and ran at the first opportunity.”

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little harsh?”

  “Nope. I truly believe that we are fundamentally on our own, ‘we’ being the people who’ve chosen to become citizens of Beta Magellan and its other systems. Sure, they’ll nod and smile and act like they’re assisting with our agenda…as long as they get what they want out of it. But none of them are our people, Sasha. None of them have stood up and said they want to be a part of what we’re building.”

  Sasha stopped walking, prompting Cole to do likewise. She moved to stand directly in front of him and looked him in the eyes as she asked, “Haven’t they, though? They came to you and said they wanted to join a federation with Beta Magellan—and you—at its head.”

  “And what was their first negotiating point? How soon they could get our technology…”

  Sasha pursed her lips to keep from frowning. Cole had a point, even though she didn’t want to admit it. Maybe it was just being raised as a daughter of one of the founding families of the Aurelian Commonwealth, but Sasha truly believed forming a new federation was the best course of action. She just didn’t see a way to bring Cole around to her way of thinking.

  Cole offered Sasha a slight smile and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I get it. You’re a Thyrray of Aurelius. I’m sure you are certain down to your bone marrow that a federation is the way to go. That’s okay, too. It just so happens that I don’t agree with you on that point. Are you okay with that?”

  Sasha turned the question over in her mind, and the answer she found startled her. She wasn’t going to give up her ideals, but at the same time, it was okay that Cole didn’t agree with her. Besides, with the right words and enough time, she might even be able to convince him she was right.

  “Yes,” Sasha answered, leaning back just enough to look up at him.

  Cole grinned and leaned in for a kiss.

  The next morning, March 7th, Cole found himself once again in the conference room waiting on the delegates to arrive. They weren’t late—yet—but he’d give them fifteen minutes past the scheduled meeting time, and then, he was gone…both from the conference room and Gateway. There was too much to do in Beta Magellan to waste his time with these people.

  At five minutes to spare before being officially late, the hatch irised open, and Geralt Hanson led his associates inside. Cole stood and shook hands with everyone again, and they all assumed their seats.

  “So, where are we?” Cole asked once everyone was seated.

  “Well, I for one do not—” the delegate from Spark began, his voice almost a growl.

  Geralt Hanson clearing his throat stopped the man’s tirade before it even wound up to get started. The delegate pursed his lips and looked down at the tabletop.

  “My fellow delegates heard back from their respective systems,” Geralt said, “and they came to me to discuss the matter, claiming that my past experience with you gives me an excellent insight into your goals and agenda.”

  Cole lifted one eyebrow as if to say, ‘Oh, really?’

  “Yes,” Geralt replied, “utter ass-kissers, the lot of them, and unashamedly so, but they do have a very good appreciation for the balance of power now. Their governments all agree they have no leverage to create a more favorable negotiating field and asked me for my opinion. This is what I proposed.”

  All news agencies received an invitation to attend a landmark treaty signing on 15 April 3004. The signing would take place in the Grand Ballroom on Babylon Station, and the signatories were Beta Magellan, Tristan’s Gate, Oriolis, Spark, Eta Anubis, Epsilon Anubis, and Iota Anubis.

  The treaty founded the Haven Protectorate.

  What’s Next?

  “The Fires of Aurelius,” the next installment of Cole & Srexx’s story, is already available for pre-order.

  You can find it here.

  The Jax Files are a series of companion short stories available through my newsletter.

  If you’re interested, you can sign up here.

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  Author’s Note

  27 August 2019

  First and foremost, thank you for reading…both the novel and these notes! I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this story at least half as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

  This was possibly the most difficult novel I’ve written yet, and I wish I knew why. I’d like to say that the trip to Alaska finally happening (first started discussing it back in August of 2018) had something to do with it, but I was already having difficulty writing it.

  My original plan with these novels was to be writing Book 5, “Solar Eclipsed,” in July and then have everything finished and be working on other projects while each book released each month between July and November.

  I like to paraphrase a saying that had to have come out of a military organization at some point, “No plan survives contact with life.”

  I’m looking forward to continuing this series, and I haven’t forgotten my Epic Fantasy, Histories of Drakmoor. I’ll be working on its next volume, “Archmagister,” as well.

  Thanks for reading these notes, and I hope you enjoyed “Haven Ascendant!”

  Typos

  Typos and little slips in grammar are the bane of any author. Unfortunately, they are almost impossible to eradicate completely. I can show you many traditionally published books—twenty years old and more—that have a ‘whoopsie’ here and there.

  That being said, if you find a typo or something that
seems to be an error in grammar, please do not hesitate to contact me at typos@knightsfallpress.com.

  I will periodically collate any emails and produce updated PDF and eBook files, and I’ll make an announcement in my monthly newsletter when the updates have been published.

  Acknowledgments

  There’s an old saying: it takes a village to raise a child. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it certainly seems true where publishing a novel is concerned. You would not be reading this were it not for contributions from several people.

  The editor of this work, T. F. Poist, deserves far more than a simple ‘thank you’ for her efforts with this work. Her time, knowledge, and expertise improved this work beyond measure.

  Did you like the cover? The background image was created by Jakub Skop (https://www.behance.net/JakubSkop).

  I’m sure there are many who will see this next paragraph and think, “Goodness, he’s acknowledging his parents and grandparents again?” My greatest regret is that I cannot hand my grandfather, Bob Miller, a paperback copy of my novels. So, yes…the Acknowledgements page of every book I publish will have the paragraph that follows. Consider yourselves forewarned.

  Without my grandparents, Bob & Janice Miller, I honestly don’t know where I’d be today; my grandfather taught me to read and love reading, and my grandmother taught me to develop and exercise my imagination. This novel (not to mention my life in general) certainly would not have happened without my parents, Vernon & Judy Kerns.