by Nathan Pedde
Contents
Title Page Book 1
Copyright
Other Books by Nathan Pedde
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
The Next Book
About the Author
Year 554 of the Beyond Terra Continuum
The O’Neal Saboteur
The O’Neal Trilogy
Book One
Nathan Pedde
The O’Neal Saboteur: The O’Neal Trilogy Book One
Copyright © 2019 by Pedde House Publishing
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
E-book version, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9959846-5-3
Pedde House Publishing
For information about upcoming projects, publishing news, and behind the scenes blog posts, please visit peddehouse.com
Other Books by Nathan Pedde
Land of Ice and Ash Verse
Tokyo Tempest Trilogy
Seismic Shock (June 2018)
World of Agersolum
Felix the Swift Saga
Phantom Sorcerer (January 2018)
Under the Shadow of Giants (forthcoming)
Beyond Earth Continuum
Odinite Campaign
Missed Drop Zone (forthcoming)
Behind Enemy Lines (forthcoming)
Mechakreiger Saga
The Experiment Blunder (forthcoming)
The O’Neal Trilogy
O’Neal Saboteur (forthcoming)
O’Neal Kidnapped (forthcoming)
Children of the Shattered Worlds Verse
With Donald Pedde
Space Courier Series
Missile Attack (Febuary 2018)
Fairies and Dragons
With Audrey Pedde
The Adventures of Evana Sweetland (March 2018)
For information about upcoming projects, publishing news, and behind the scenes blog posts, please visit peddehouse.com or join the Sci-Fi Newsletter.
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my son, Donald. He is the inspiration and reason for writing this book. He is one of the reasons that I write. His mind works in ways that are amazing to watch. It soaks up information like a sponge and he will listen to anything that I have to talk about. Whether it is about a story or anything science related.
This book started out as something that my son and I talked about and worked on. Now it has grown into this massive project. It is a wonderful feeling working on something with my son. Getting him involved with story-telling has been amazing in its own right and I count that as a success.
Stay shinny.
Nathan Pedde
Chapter 1
Des O’Neal walked through the darkened corridors of the Undercroft of the Jovian 1-H Space Station. The metal corridors were poorly lit and smelled like wet, dirty socks.
It reminded Des he was lucky to live where he lived. He didn’t live in some habitat on some planet or moon. He didn’t breath recycled air, being forced to stare at nothing but steel bulkheads and vidscreens showing images of greenery he would never experience. Now, Des lived in the middle of a spinning space station, which had been compared to a giant spinning park.
Des enjoyed living in the space station, it was better than the moon of Europa.
Europa, being terraformed just over a hundred years before, had thawed with the thickening atmosphere. The settlements, built into the ice had sunk to the bottom of the sea. Now there was more liquid water on the tiny moon than on the planet Earth.
Tall towers stretched up from the ocean floor to the surface on Europa. Only the rich, and influential managed to live anywhere near the surface, they were the only ones who had any chance of having any type of fresh air. Des knew on Europa, everything was recycled.
Des and his family weren’t rich, and they weren’t influential. His parents had been mechanics on Europa. They had lived under the surface of the moon-wide ocean. He hadn’t seen real sunlight until after his tenth birthday.
On this station, Des was much happier, as happy as can be expected considering the circumstances. The air was still recycled, and the daylight was manufactured, but he had green grass to run in and fields to explore.
Of course, he spent most of his free time crawling underground in the Undercroft. It reminded him of Europa in some ways.
Des moved out of the tight space he had squeezed himself into and put his recorder away into his pocket. He looked around to see if he had been seen by anyone.
“Des,” Elsie Dagg called out from a nearby corridor, “Where in the system have you gotten to now?”
Elsie walked out from the corridor. She was a girl from Des’s class in school and one of his better friends, yet Elsie was a year older than Des’s sixteen.
Despite the age difference, Des was tall and skinny for his age, so most people didn’t know he was the younger of the pair. He swore he was taller than she was, but the amount was less than a finger width and seemed to disappear depending on the shoes she wore.
He looked over to Elsie as she approached. She was still in her school uniform, a knee length skirt, the standard white button-up shirt, a blue tie, and the standardized blue colored school jacket. Her jacket fitted the curves of her teenage body, Des knew she had taken the time to adjust the jacket's fit properly. Not that he had ever broached that topic, he assumed it as her jacket fit her, unlike other girls.
Des was dressed much the same, but instead of wearing a skirt, he wore a pair of blue pants. His jacket didn’t fit and was looser than he would’ve liked. Not that he thought a guy could get a jacket to fit him.
Elsie carried a flashlight and shined the light into his eyes.
“There you are, you fool,” Elsie said.
“Stop that,” Des said as Elsie lowered her flashlight.
“Sorry,” Elsie said.
“No worries,” Des said as his night vision returned to him.
“I told you I was going this way,” Des replied as he pointed a finger where she had walked from, “And that way was going to be harder to get through.“
“Harder?” Elsie said, “It wasn’t hard.”
Des saw a small rip in her jacket.
“You ripped your jacket,” Des said as he put his finger in the hole, “Again.”
“Oh no,” Elsie said, “My mom is going to space me.”
“No, she isn't,” Des said, “She’ll scold you and maybe take away something, but she won’t force you out an airlock.”
“It’s a figure of speech,” Elsie said, “Idiot.”
“Where’s Fillip?” Des said, “I thought you were gonna bring him this time.”
“He’s cowering by the entrance,” Elsie said, “He said we shouldn’t be in here because it’s for ‘authorized personnel only.'”
“Flat Lander,” Des said.
“You shouldn’t call people that,” Elsie said.
“Why not?” Des said.
“Cause it’s rude and inaccurate,” Elsie said, “Planets and moons aren’t flat, and unlike a certain person who insists on breaking the rules. We were born here.”
“Whatever.”
“How much longer are we going to be,” Elsie said, “I’m getting hungry, we should get to the Diner. I could use a burger.”
“Doesn’t your family not eat meat?”
“They don’t,” Elsie said, “but I do.”
Des jumped as a red light flashed on in the middle of the corridor. The whine of a siren echoed down the dusty metallic hallway. To Des, the siren sounded off, like something in the speaker was broken. For a moment, Des was unsure what the alarm was for.
“Ah,” Elsie said, “They’ve caught us. We need to get out of here.” Panic raised into her voice.
“Calm down,” Des said, “It’s an evacuation alarm.”
A voice echoed down the corridor from the alarm came.
“Level four alert,” the Emergency Voice said from the speakers, “All civilians please evacuate to the nearest shelter. All Emergency Personnel, please report to your duty stations.”
The voice then repeated itself endlessly.
“Calm down?” Elsie said, “We are under attack. I don’t want to die.”
“We are not going to die,” Des said.
“Where’s the closest exit,” Elsie said, “We need to get to a shelter, or we’ll get into even more trouble than just being in the Undercroft.”
Des grabbed her hand and ran down the nearest corridor.
“This way,” Des shouted.
He was sure it was the best way out. He had been through this area before, but Des knew in the station's Undercroft, every sector was the same.
He bumped into a wall, and a pile of dust and debris fell from the ceiling.
Des ran down the corridor as he dragged Elsie with him. He took little time to dodge the obstacles in his way. He jumped over pieces of disconnected and abandoned pipes. His school shoes barely gripped on the steel floor.
“Slow down,” Elsie shouted, “I can’t keep up.”
The station shook violently. Des lost his footing and tumbled to the ground in a heap. Elsie, still holding onto his hand, tripped on Des’s flailing feet and landed on his chest.
The wind escaped from his lungs with a shot as he tried to suck air back in.
“Are you okay,” Elsie asked Des.
“Yes,” Des said, “but you’re heavier than you look.”
Elsie punched his shoulder.
“Meany,” Elsie said as she got up off of Des.
Des and Elsie followed the corridor to the nearby exit. The amount of debris in the passages increased the further they walked and it forced them to take a slower pace. Des was confident this corridor was emptier the last time he had walked through it.
“Is this the same exit we came in at?” Elsie asked, “I’m completely turned around.”
“It is,” Des said, “We should come out near the central market in the Teal Sector.”
Des slammed into the door. It was stiffer than he remembered. He shouldered the door a second time, and it flew open. Des and Elsie flew out into the station beyond, the bright light of the station proper blinded them for a brief moment.
***
Des slid to a stop as he exited the door to the Undercroft. He wasn’t in the Teal Sector anymore but found himself in the middle of a farming sector. Fields stretched out around him, the wheat glowed golden in the artificial sunlight.
Des looked to his left and his right. The inside of the station stretched up in a distinct curve. Des thought of the station as a giant, stretched-out donut with the center filled in. People lived inside the 'donut,' on its edge under the crust.
“Look who’s the flatlander that got us lost,” Elsie said.
“We’re not lost,” Des said, “We’re in the middle of the Ruby Sector.”
“We’re supposed to be in the Teal Sector, over there,” Elsie said as she pointed up.
Along the inside curve of the station, Des could see the houses and businesses of the Teal Sector. Des thought he could make out his brothers school in the very center of it. It was easy to see as it was the tallest building in the sector.
The station shook violently. Des scrambled to keep his feet as he grabbed hold of Elsie.
“We need to get to the Teal Sector,” Elsie said, “If this station breaks apart, I don’t want to be with a bunch of strangers. I want to be with my family.”
“No time.” Des said, “We need to get to a shelter.”
Des and Elsie ran down the dirt road, passing trees and flowers. The birds in the trees sang without a care for the problems of humankind.
Up ahead of them was a small group of buildings. Des assumed it must be the barns and the storage buildings used by the farms.
“There will be a shelter in one of those buildings,” Des yelled.
Des ran ahead, and Elsie followed trying hard to keep up.
“Wait up,” Elsie called out from behind.
Des reached the buildings and turned a corner. High up on a wall, with its chipped paint was a sign with an arrow said, ‘Crimson Sector Shelter 104-2A.’
“Elsie,” Des called, “This way.”
Elsie caught up with him. She was visibly winded and leaned against the wall.
“This is ridiculous,” Elsie said.
“You should run more in Gym Class,” Des said, “Train more.”
“You be quiet.” Elsie said, then after a moment, “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Des and Elsie ran down the dirt road along the different buildings. In a small corner was a big sign that said, ‘Crimson Sector Shelter 104-2A. Full. Please go to Crimson Sector Shelter 104-2B.”
“First you get us lost,” Elsie said, “then when the station is about to get blown up, the shelter is full.”
The voice echoed from a speaker on the top of a building.
“Level four alert,” the Emergency Voice said, “All civilians please evacuate to the nearest shelter. All Emergency Personnel, please report to your duty stations.”
Des looked around amongst the cluster of buildings. In among the different maintenance and support buildings for the surrounding farms, was a couple of small shops. Des knew they sold coffee and small lunch items to the workers in the area. He looked around and saw there were signs that the workers had abandoned the cluster in a hurry. Tools and farm equipment were left lying around. One cow was eating some grass on the side of the road.
Over in a corner was a U-Ride station.
“Can you afford a scooter?” Des yelled as he ran for the U-Ride station.
The U-Ride was an automated hover-scooter rental locker. Des could rent the use of a hover-scooter with the swipe of his ID-card.
“No,” Elsie said, “My mom cut my allowance on me. Can you rent one for me?”
Des swiped the Auto-pad on the U-Ride. A small red light turned green, and a single hover-scooter of the correct size was released.
He swiped again, but an ‘Insufficient Funds’ notification popped on the screen.
“Stupid Uncle Jacob,” Des muttered.
“What?” Elsie said.
“I don’t have enough for a second scooter,” Des said, “My uncle didn’t transfer my money like he said he was going to. We have to double up on the scooter.”
The station shook violently once more.
The voice echoed from a speaker on the top of a building once again.
“Level four alert,” the Emergency Voice said, but Des tuned it out.
Des hopped on the scooter and motioned for Elsie to jump on behind him.
“Get on the best you can,” Des said, “We have to go.”
Elsie stuck her tongue out at him and climbed on behind him. She wrapped her arms around Des’s chest.
“If I fall off and die
, I will haunt you,” Elsie said.
Des struggled with the controls as they started to ride down the dirt road. He knew how to ride one. It was what all the kids on the station did. Either they owned a scooter, or they had a friend who did. This hover-scooter wasn’t designed to be used by two people. Two-rider versions existed, but there was none at this U-Ride.
After a few moments, Des soared down the road with Elsie screaming behind him.
“You’re going too fast. You’re going too fast,” Elsie yelled.
A cluster of buildings stood in the distance. The size and amount of the buildings were similar to the ones they had left behind. Des knew in the farming district there were many of these building groups. Everything was cut and paste. The needs of the workers were the same as one another. As such, each group of buildings was nearly identical.
Des flew into the farming cluster. He screeched to a stop near the heavy doors to the shelter. He left the scooter laying on its side.
“We’re here,” Des said, “And we didn’t die.”
“Just barely,” Elsie said.
He ran up to the door, the faded black lettering of the shelter said there was still vacancy.
The voice echoed from a speaker on the top of a building.
“Level one alert,” the Emergency Voice said, “Danger has passed. All civilians, please report to the nearest supervisor for debriefing,” there was a pause in the voice, “Des O’Neal and Elsie Dagg report to Captain Kusheeno.”
Chapter 2
The hard plastic chairs were as uncomfortable as they were ugly. Des wondered why officials always had these chairs in government buildings.
Des sweated in the small office in the middle of the Teal Sector. Dust collected on the pictures that sat on the single desk in the middle of the room. A ceiling fan twirled in the middle of the office, but it didn’t make the heat any less unbearable.
He looked over to Elsie who sat next to her. She looked disheveled and dirty, soot and spots of grease covered her face and clothes. She looked down at her lap, her face a mask of sullenness. She picked at the skin around her fingernails.
