Keltan's Gambit: Chronicles of the Orion Spur Book 2

by Michael Formichelli

“Let us be thankful this is a friendly craft and leave it at that,” Ichiro said.

  “Is it?” Setha whispered.

  He tensed, but did not want to give her statement force in public by answering. He already knew she deeply distrusted the machine entity. There was no sense in spreading that distrust to the others just yet, and besides, he could feel they were already afraid.

  Nero and Agent Khepria were on the parade-ground staring up at the great ship. Ichiro led the group towards them. Their feet crunched on the stones beneath their soles.

  “There is no record of this class of ship in the CSA archives. This is something Daedalus dreamed up itself,” Agent Khepria said as he approached.

  “I’ve never seen one in person,” Nero added.

  “It seems Daedalus is a little further ahead of us than we imagined. There are no apparent means of propulsion,” Jiro said in awe.

  “You set a machine to do as it pleases in the void,” Setha said.

  “And here is the result.” Jiro nodded. “It is magnificent.”

  “I think Jiro wants to marry the ship,” Junichi commented and got an elbow to his ribs from Takeshima-san.

  “Has it contacted us yet?” Ichiro asked.

  “Not yet,” Praetor Graves responded.

  “Flight control has not heard from the ship since it signaled its intention to land,” Hiroaki reported.

  Ichiro nodded, facing the column of light. The smell of ozone was heavy in the air.

  “Maybe we should—” He cut himself off when the column flickered.

  A dark figure descended through it as though on a slow, invisible lift. Blurry in the glare at first, her features resolved into the Praetor from the transmission he received. Her curly dark locks jiggled like little springs about her ears as her heels dug into the pebbled ground. She walked towards them, her movements machine-precise, and bowed from two-strides away. He was reminded of a lever’s pivoting action when she did. He could feel no emotion at all from her petite frame, but did sense an odd buzzing tingle on his skin.

  “Greetings Baron Mitsugawa. Daedalus extends his good wishes to your reign.” Her voice was clipped, each syllable given the same length.

  “Thank you. Your ship is very impressive. We have not —”

  “He is not reigning yet,” Aki said.

  He gritted his teeth hard enough to cause pain. Her breech of etiquette was shocking, and to do so before the Protector of the Confederation’s agent, was unforgivable. Was this what she had been planning all along? Did she think he would be so cawed as to be controllable through shock?

  “When my father’s remains arrive in twenty-seven days, it will be official.” He managed in a congenial tone. He could feel heat burning his entire body, but it was hottest in his chest.

  “Mitsugawa-uesama’s ascension is inevitable, therefore the lack of a title is a mere formality,” Mamiya-san added.

  “Never the less, he is not yet Uchū Shōgun,” Aki said.

  Ichiro closed his eyes for a moment, trying to call to mind the meditative techniques of his martial training. To respond in a sharp fashion would bring him some personal satisfaction, but it would shame him. He couldn’t afford to give in to his emotions right now.

  “Confederate law states that succession in a barony is automatic upon the death of the reigning baron. Mitsugawa Ichiro is that person regardless of his local title, therefore, he remains the reigning authority on this planet.” Praetor Athame said to his aunt as though explaining things to a child.

  Aki’s mouth opened and closed without sound.

  Thank you, he thought.

  Praetor Athame caught his attention with her purple eyes for a moment, then turned to Nero. “Are you prepared?”

  “Myself and my companion,” Preater Graves answered.

  “I am only here for you,” Athame said.

  Praetor Graves took a deep breath. “Agent Khepria here is my partner, and we have an urgent mission to the Zov system.”

  “Negative. I am only here for you, Praetor Graves,” she repeated with a passive expression. “Your mission is irrelevant.”

  “Then I’m not going with you.” He scowled.

  “You do not understand. You are malfunctioning. You will come with me,” Praetor Athame said.

  “Make me.” Praetor Graves put his hand on the butt of his new pistol.

  “I’d leave him be if I were you, Abyssian,” Commander Armstrong drawled.

  Ichiro heard her draw a pistol behind him and flinched, fearing an open conflict on his parade ground. For a moment he wavered between thoughts of consequences with Daedalus, and his feelings about Praetor Graves, and Setha’s connection to him. His mind was made up in less than a second.

  “Praetor Athame, if you do not agree to Praetor Graves’ terms, I will be forced to consider this an attempted abduction.” Ichiro put his hand on Hoshinagi, wondering if the high-tech materials science that went into it would be enough to cut down an Abyssian.

  She turned her purple eyes to him. “You would defy Daedalus?”

  “Nero is my friend and personal guest. I will not allow you to abuse him on my world.”

  Praetor Athame stared at him for a few seconds and then looked at Mamiya-san before speaking. “Daedalus is agreeable to your request. He will observe you and the CSA agent on Zov through me, and then you come with me. Do you agree to these terms?”

  Praetor Graves nodded, looking tired. “That is acceptable as long as we detour to Kosfanter after Zov.”

  Athame stared at him without a response.

  “Extend my thanks to your master,” Ichiro said.

  Behind them a second, wide column of light extended from another port and enveloped Nero’s ship. It rose up into the air in a smooth motion.

  “If there is no further business, Daedalus thanks you for your time. We will leave now.” Praetor Athame turned and headed back to the first column of light.

  “Amazing technology,” Ichiro said, watching the Akanda rise into the larger vessel.

  “It seems I’m a bit behind the times,” Praetor Graves shook his hand. “I had no idea we had things like this.” He looked at Setha for a moment. “Thank you, Baron. Take care of her.”

  “You have my word of honor.” Ichiro bowed.

  “Watch your back, Nero. I’ll see you again soon.” Armstrong saluted him.

  He returned the gesture.

  “Baron, thank you for everything,” Agent Khepria bowed to him.

  “Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to our rendezvous on Kosfanter,” Ichiro said with a bow.

  He watched them walk to the column of light, then turned back to the donjon and his own problems.

  They rose into the belly of the large vessel, passing through its thick skin and down a long tube to a spherical compartment. The curved walls were dark but reflected some of the light cast off from a ring four-meters above them. The three of them hovered in the air a moment before the aperture beneath them flowed shut, reminding Nero of the walls of the Temple on Elmorus.

  “That’s a hell of a trick,” he said as they drifted to the floor.

  “Daedalus has made several improvements to Confederate technology over the last few decades,” Praetor Athame said.

  Sorina’s ears twitched.

  The sphere around them shimmered and became a projection of the world outside the ship. The blue skies above the bluer ocean of the planet surrounded them. The image of the baron’s floating fortress dropping away was accompanied by a sensation of pressure akin to being in a fast lift.

  “I am providing this view for your guest,” Praetor Athame said. “You may hook into the system if you wish.”

  “Thank you.” He responded. Below them the fortress shrank into a small dot in the vast ocean, and was obscured by clouds. When he looked up Athame was standing in front of him, staring into his eyes.

  “We will be in high orbit within five minutes. At that point I will engage the FTL drive and show you to your quarters.”
>
  Around them the sky was fading into the starry-dark of space.

  “How long will it take us to reach Zov?” Nero asked.

  “Zov is two-hundred and seventy-seven point-six-zero-seven parsecs from our present location. However, we are not going to Zov.”

  “Zov is critical to my mission. We must go. That was the deal.” Nero tensed.

  “Daedalus sent me to retrieve a piece of malfunctioning equipment, and I shall do as my master orders. You are malfunctioning, therefore the deal is void.”

  She lied? Prospero’s shock was palpable.

  Combat mode! Nero thought. His perception of time started to shift.

  Athame continued to stare at him, but made no move. His muscles seized up and his time perception returned to normal.

  “What the hell?” Nero’s eyes widened in shock.

  Nero, I’m sorry. She’s in my system. Prospero’s voice sounded distorted.

  “You cannot do this.” Sorina glared at Praetor Athame.

  “I do not advise you attempt to engage in hostilit—hostil—hos—“ Athame lurched and stumbled back. At the same moment, Nero felt his muscles unlock.

  Something’s downloading from my system, but I’m not in control of it, Prospero said. It’s coming from the corrupted part of my data storage.

  Nero felt his entire body shiver, and a piercing sound like a thousand radios spewing static flooded his mind. He fell to his knees, clutching his ears but his hands failed to keep the sound out.

  Athame convulsed and fell to the deck. Her voice let out a sound like metal tearing metal, then the room went dark, and with it silence ensued.

  “What the fuck was that?” Nero gasped.

  Nero? Nero? Can you hear me?

  “Prospero,” he responded aloud.

  It was here all along, masked as corrupted data. How could it have managed that?

  “Are you okay, Nero?” Sorina asked.

  “What?” Nero’s heart thumped in his chest. “What was here?”

  The sensation of gravity brought on by their acceleration ceased. He felt his body drift up off the floor a moment before the projection came back on around them. Before them the image of the world of Taiumikai was transmitted as a huge blue sphere set against the backdrop of stars. There was a flash, and a pulse of white energy shot out towards it.

  “What is that?” Sorina said, floating towards the top of the chamber.

  Athame made a sound like radio-static, and her eyes shot open. “I am no longer in control of the ship but I can still sense its functions. That is the relativity cannon firing on the point at which we just departed.”

  “What?” Nero glared.

  Athame looked up at him from her place on the floor. Apparently, she was magnetized to the deck. “You were carrying some kind of intelligent virus. I activated it when I initiated Daedalus’ diagnostic protocols in your SCC.”

  “A relativity cannon? No, this cannot be.” Sorina stared with wide, amber eyes.

  It wasn’t a virus, Nero. It was a fragment of Qismat. I have access to my full data now. She overloaded my system during the attack on Elmorus and downloaded that part of herself into my digital architecture. She was waiting for a chance to strike at Daedalus.

  Through the monitor they watched as the pulse struck. The whole planet seemed to shudder, a wave radiated out from the point of impact. The edges of the blue sphere blurred, then spread out like splattered paint. The planet appeared to shrink, darkening while a spider web of angry, cinder-red lines spread out across its surface.

  “What the hell is going on?” Nero’s eyes stung as he gaped at the horror going on below them.

  “A relativity cannon is a device that uses dark energy to create a corridor of hyper-compressed space-time and accelerates a one-kilogram mass to near-light speed,” Sorina said in a voice barely above a whisper. “The projectile cannot be stopped by any known means, and contains incredible amounts of energy. It is Daedalus’ ultimate weapon.”

  “The projectile is capable of hammering through whatever it hits, including planets,” Athame finished. “What we are watching is the atmosphere and ocean being stripped away by the shockwave while the heat cooks the surface. The glowing lines are where magma is rising to the surface through the planet’s shattered crust.”

  “What?!” Nero’s eyes bulged. He hit the curved ceiling and started drifting back down towards the floor. The monitor showed the lines of magma and ash spreading like a web across the blue planet.

  “Prospero, what caused this?” Sorina’s ears were a blur.

  Qismat has downloaded itself into the ship’s systems. I’m sorry, Nero, I fear it learned Daedalus’ protocols from me. I am sorry.

  The image around them blurred, flashed, and faded to black.

  “What happened?” Nero shouted.

  “The FTL drive engaged and the external feed cut out automatically. We are in an Einstein-Rosen bridge,” Athame said.

  “Headed for where?” Sorina whispered.

  Athame stood up. The hem of her Abyssian coat floated around her.

  “Deep Hydra.”

  OS.EXIT

  To Be Continued in Book Three: Eye of the Abyss

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  Appendixes

  Cast of Characters

  The Great Houses of the Confederation

  House Altair

  Baroness Brudah Altair

  House Cronus

  Baroness Hephestia Cronus

  Heir-Representative Aurora Cronus

  Heiress Sophiathena Cronus

  House Keltan

  Baron Cylus Keltan

  Ben -Artificial Manservant to Baron Keltan

  House Mitsugawa

  Baron Mitsugawa Yoji

  Heir Mitsugawa Ichiro “Sable”

  Heiress Mitsugawa Aki –Sister of Baron Mitsugawa Yoji

  Mamiya Ryouichi –House Mitsugawa’s top retainer

  Mizushima Kaito –Taisa (Colonel) & C/O TSS Musashi

  Hamasaki Akira –Chūsa (Lt. Col.) & X/O TSS Musashi

  Einaga Hiroaki –Supreme Commander of the Shiragawa Self Defense Forces

  Einaga Jiro –Shiragawa VP of Engineering, Research & Development

  Einaga Junichi –Shiragawa Vice President of Operations

  House Olivaar

  Baron Hagus Olivaar

  Baroness Helena Olivaar (Revenant)

  Heiress Pasqualina Olivaar

  House Revenant

  Baron Zalor Revenant

  Qismat -His artificial bodyguard and assassin

  Doctor Suman Rega -Expert in the Cephalon civilization, xeno-archeologist & xeno-technologist working for Baron Revenant

  House Vargas

  Baron-Scion Viktor Vargas

  Agent Thuban Vargas -Confederate Space Authority

  Heiress Anica Vargas

  House Xitar (Cleebian)

  Baron Shisharav Xitar

  Xarxshi Saeneiz –Baron Xitar’s personal bodyguard

  Non-House Affiliated Characters

  Investigators

  Praetor Nero Graves

  Agent Sorina Khepria -Confederate Space Authority

  Eckortaan Setha a.k.a. Kiertah Rega -Daughter of Suman Rega, adopted daughter of Chief Irin of the Savorchans

  The Nyangari Protectorate

  Ambassador Rugor Shef

  Guror Shkur Ithros

  Reporters for the Spur Herald News Feed

  Cygni Lau-Aragón

  Pawqlan

  Ax’xoa Iai –Chief Editor of the Spur Herald

  Star Corps

  Lieutenant Androdameia “Meia” Roshani Ironstar

  Sergeant Kaeden Faen

  Sub-Lieutenant Ostrin

  Iapetus

  Abyssian Order

  Daedalus

  Praetor Modulus

  Non-Affiliated Characters

  Comma
nder Val Armstrong -Armstrong’s Reivers

  Garghth -Owner of “The Wall”

  Rune Faen -11 year-old son of Kaeden Faen

  Takeshima Kame –Shiragawa Personal Assistant to Einaga Junichi

  Glossary of Terms in the 25th Century Orion Spur

  Term

  Definition

  Abyssian Praetor

  Member of the Abyssian Order, a cyborg servant of Daedalus.

  Aegis Field

  Term for a series of energy fields designed to serve as a barrier, either permeable, semi-permeable, or completely repulsive in nature. Most typically they are comprised of overlapping dark energy and electromagnetic fields.

  Anilon

  Home world of House Keltan

  Anti-matter

  Grenade

  A fist-sized sphere containing a tiny amount of anti-hydrogen gas in a magnetic field. When the fuse is triggered, the magnetic field collapses allowing the anti-hydrogen gas to contact the inside of the housing, resulting in a highly energetic matter-anti-matter interaction.

  Ākuha Blade

  These blades are extremely sharp, low friction, and DLC (diamond-like carbon) coated. They have a carbon-nanotube edge that continuously resharpens itself using arc-welding style technology, either built into the blade itself or built into the scabbard. They are in wide use in the Taiumikai colonies, and take their name from the Japanese for arc-welded blade.

  AlCas Drive

  System of Faster than Light travel involving the warping of spacetime around a ship. It is much slower than neutronium powered FTL drive, but does not require a planetary mass to function. Has limited use in the Confederation, but is very popular in the Sagittarian Republics.