Chaos Tactics (The Reckless Chronicles Book 1)

by Trent Falls

  It would have been an ideal sleep had Troy’s PDA not started to ring.

  “Ugh.” Troy grumbled in his sleep.

  The tall brunette stirred next to him in bed. She pulled the covers over her naked form, covering her head.

  The phone kept ringing.

  “Alright.” Troy grumbled. His hand reached out clumsily at his night stand, finally grasping the phone. He answered. “Yeah.”

  “WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOUR MEN?!?” John’s voice shouted at him through the phone. He was loud enough to wake Troy’s girl.

  “Wait. What?”

  “WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOUR MEN, TROY?!?” John screamed. “THEY GOT MY LITTLE GIRL!”

  “John? Wait. Settle down.” Troy sat up in bed.

  The girl next to Troy mumbled. She rolled over to give Troy a bewildered look.

  Troy cupped his hand over the mic on his phone as he stood up, looking at his date. “Go back to sleep, dear. I’ll take this out in the living room.” He told her before hurrying out to the door. “John. What are you talking about? What men?”

  “Your protection! You said you had ESF Agents watching Julie!” John spoke more clearly, his tone barely diminished.

  “Yes, I do. What happened?” Troy said reluctantly as he moved out in the living room.

  “I just got a message from Scott Euler saying he has my niece!” John replied angrily. “I just got off the phone with my niece’s boyfriend who said two or three guys rolled him and took Julie away!”

  “John. JOHN!” Troy tried to speak over him. “I assure you, I know nothing about this. Let me make some phone calls to see what happened. You say Euler left you a message?”

  “Yeah, he said I was too important to say no to his little trip to find the Norn.” John noted. “He took Julie to make sure I come along and said he’d have more instructions soon.”

  “That’s all he said?”

  “YES!” John barked.

  “Did you contact the police yet?” Troy asked.

  “They were with Julie’s boyfriend at his house. They put me on the phone with them. Their detective said he’d have a unit on the way to my house.”

  “Okay. I’m putting a block on that. I’ll have ESF and the FBI over to your place soon.” Troy explained with certainty. “I don’t want local cops in on this. I’m also shutting down airports and space ports.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.” John replied, still angry.

  “John.” Troy called his name.

  There was a pause of silence on the other end. “Yeah.” John spoke finally.

  “Don’t do anything on your own. Stay the hell where you are. We’ll get your little niece back for you.” Troy assured him.

  “You better, Troy.” John noted harshly. “I didn’t ask for any of this crap! If they’ve hurt one hair on her head…”

  “JOHN!” Troy shouted.

  Again, silence on the other end.

  “DON’T do anything, John! I’m not kidding at all!” Troy noted sternly.

  John was silent for a while on the other end of the line. “You do what you gotta do, Troy.”

  John hung up.

  “Shit!” Troy exhaled angrily. Immediately he dialed the phone numbers of the agents he had on watch over Julie.

  He got no answer.

  Julie had been locked inside a spacesuit. The arms had been tucked behind her back like a straight jacket. Binding straps had been wrapped around her chair to keep her in place during liftoff. The space suit’s helmet had been locked over her head. Though there was a build in heads-up display on the glass visor, the telemetry stream had been cut. Plenty of air was pumped into the suit.

  The fear had somewhat subsided in Julie for a moment. She hated the fact that her first lift-off into space was under these circumstances. The bastards didn’t even give her a window to look out of! She felt the main jets fire up in atmospheric mode. She felt the shuttle taxi into position on to one of the main runways. Takeoff was like in any other commercial airliner she had flown. There was movement forward. There was increased speed. There was the feeling that the weight of the ship was off the ground. The shuttle steadily increased altitude. Julie could feel her ears pop as they climbed higher. The spacesuit wasn’t completely sealed. That model suit would auto-seal if it detected a severe pressure gradient.

  A tear rolled down the side of Julie’s face. She knew she was leaving the Earth, and her uncle, behind. The bastards didn’t even give her a window to look out of! The shuttle climbed steadily for fifteen minutes or so, the same as any airplane.

  “All hands, prepare for atmospheric egress. Max Q approaching.” The pilot’s even voice spoke throughout the ship and in her helmet speakers.

  Somewhere through her suit, she could hear, and feel the vibrations of the outer intakes to the engines sealing. The engines were reconfigured for max thrust. The blast was sudden, shoving Julie’s body hard back into her seat. The engines outside roared viciously. She could feel the G-forces build up quickly on her body.

  The shuttle had fired up its main engines to near maximum to shoot up towards the darkening sky.

  The g-force was strong enough to push Julie deep into her seat. The straps holding her to the chair grew slack! She tried to squirm out but was barely able to move under the strong momentum. She was also smart enough to know that she shouldn’t get out of her chair. Getting out while at max thrust would only cause her to slam into the bulkhead behind her and very likely cause her serious injury. She could only hope to loosen the straps and get out.

  But go where? She was in a light cargo shuttle flying at over 20,000 miles per hour and leaving the atmosphere. Where could she run?

  The pressure grew incredibly intense. She took slow deep breaths. Then, at once, it felt as though their speed trailed off. The sensation caused her to panic for a moment. She imagined the light cargo shuttle stalling and falling back down to the atmosphere.

  “Orbital Insertion achieved.” The pilot’s calm voice noted. “Transitioning to warp egress profile.”

  Julie knew what was coming next. She had read about it in textbooks. She had dreamed about it. She had hounded her uncle about it countless times. What was it like to go faster than light? In a few moments she’d find out. The idea at once excited her and terrified her. She forgot momentarily to be afraid. Instead, she wondered where the hell they were going. Where would they take her? Mars? Proxima Centauri? Farther out? She didn’t know.

  It took several minutes for the cargo shuttle to fly around the blue and green Earth. It eventually arrived at its escape vector.

  The main engines surged over. In a split second, a glimmer of Cherenkov radiation flashed over the skin of the shuttle. The shuttle jumped forward for a split-second before vanishing from Earth into the void of space.

  “You guys want some coffee?” John looked around his suddenly busy living room.

  David Troy was standing in his living room, as were two other ESF Agents; a male and a female. Two local FBI agents were also on-scene. John let out a deep breath. He had been questioned, at length, by Troy and the FBI. He was getting more than a little pissed at the idea that no one seemed to be doing anything to find his niece. John poured himself a cup of coffee and set the glass carafe back in the coffeemaker with audible force.

  “John, I’m sorry for what you’re going through, but I assure you, we’re doing all we can.” Troy noted to his old Marine friend.

  “We knew this could happen. Damn it! I should have warned her!” John exhaled angrily, turning his eyes sharply on Troy. “They took out your men, Troy! You guys are supposed to be the shit!”

  Troy took a deep breath, holding his gaze on John. “Yes, okay! My guys fucked up! These guys got the jump on them and now one’s dead and two are in the hospital.”

  “I’m sorry about your men, Troy. I really am.” John got angrier. “But they were trained to deal with this shit! Julie’s just a schoolgirl! And she’s somewhere out there in space right now!”

  “We do
n’t know that, sir.” One of the FBI agents, Larry Moriarty, said from across the kitchen counter. “We’ve increased security at all airports and spaceports. Surveillance drones are in the air around every major city looking down at all landing strips.”

  “That’s a waste of time.” John breathed. “Hell, if I wanted to get off this planet without you guys knowing I could do it!”

  Moriarty smirked, shrugging off John’s criticism.

  “And you’re sure it was Scott Euler on the message?” Troy noted.

  “Your guys are running tests on the sound file now, right?” John stared back at Troy.

  “Those tests take time to run. I’m asking for your opinion.” Troy clarified.

  “I haven’t heard his voice in forever, but yeah. I’m willing to bet it was him.” John replied sharply.

  “Mister Carn. You said this Sergeant Euler wants you to help him find the… the Norn?” Yang, the other FBI agent asked. “What exactly are The Norn?”

  “They’re supposed to be a…

  “That’s now classified, Agent Yang.” Troy cut John short. “It’s irrelevant information anyway. Euler and his men are suspected of being double agents, possibly working for the Xen.”

  “Mister Troy. If we’re going to conduct our investigation properly we need to understand the motive of this individual.” Agent Moriarty pressed.

  “You know who Rochette and Euler are. I gave you their dossiers. You know their motive is to get my man to act in some way that, honestly, may be a matter of intergalactic diplomacy and planetary security.” Troy noted seriously to the FBI agents. “I contacted your organization, gentlemen, because this technically falls under purview of a crime carried out in the United States of America. We couldn’t have local law enforcement involved due to the nature of this matter. Honestly, due to the sensitive nature of the extraplanetary aspect of this crime, I can only allow so much sensitive information to be known.”

  The FBI agents stared for a while at Troy, surprised by his lengthy and wordy explanation.

  “So… you’re saying you won’t answer our questions?” Yang asked.

  “I’m saying I can’t.” Troy clarified. “Not all of them anyway.”

  John’s mobile phone chimed on his counter. All three men standing around the bar from the kitchen to the dining room fell still, all looking at the ringing phone.

  John picked up the handset and hit the answer button. “This is John.”

  “You still know military call frequencies?” an unknown man’s voice spoke.

  “Who is this?” John asked sharply.

  “Just answer the fucking question. You still know standard military com frequencies?”

  “Yes.”

  “You have three days to get to Mars.” The voice said. The line then was cut.

  “Fuck!” John jammed his thumb down on the disconnect button of his phone and tossed the device on the counter.

  “What was it?” Troy asked impatiently.

  “He wants me to go to Mars!” John griped.

  “What the hell?” Troy squinted.

  “I don’t know.” John replied as quickly.

  “Did he say what he wanted you to do once you got there?” Troy asked.

  “He asked me if I still knew military com frequencies.” John explained.

  “He doesn’t know you’re talking to us?” Troy asked, somewhat as an observation.

  “I’m willing to bet he does.” John replied.

  “Excuse me, can you tell us what’s happening here?” FBI Agent Moriarty asked.

  “I’m sorry, gentlemen. This is seriously a matter of planetary security.” Troy looked quickly at the two FBI agents. “I need to speak with Mister Carn in private.”

  “You’re asking us to leave?” Yang asked, somewhat surprised.

  “Yes, exactly. I need you gentlemen to leave, please.” Troy noted seriously.

  “We still have questions…”

  “This matter is of an intergalactic nature, Agent Yang. ESF has authority here.” Troy noted clearly. “I will contact you after I finish here and relay any relevant information you may need to investigate this kidnapping.”

  “What about Miss Stevens?” Moriarty asked.

  Troy shook his head. “I think Mister Carn is right. She’s not on this planet anymore.”

  The FBI agents looked at each other. Realizing Troy was right, they shook their heads and moved towards the door. Yang put his PDA in his jacket.

  “Very well. Thank you Mister Carn for your cooperation.” Moriarty noted over his shoulder as he walked away.

  Troy led them to the front door, shutting it behind them and locking it. He then looked back at John. John was leaning over on the breakfast bar, standing halfway between the kitchen and dining room. He was visibly shaken.

  “Damn it! I hate when things get this sloppy!” Troy breathed.

  “Your men made it sloppy!” John jammed a fist down on the counter.

  “And one of them paid the ultimate price for it!” Troy shouted back. “Fuck, John! What the hell?!?”

  John stared at Troy for a while. He knew the David Troy standing in front of him wasn’t the same David Troy from all those years ago on Phaedra. This one was all business; a company man, as they used to call the likes of ESF agents.

  “I’m sorry.” John conceded. “My girl is out there somewhere, though. She’s not home in her bed.”

  “I know, buddy.” Troy patted him on the shoulder. “Trust me, we already got a ton of resources on it.”

  John looked at Troy blankly for a handful of seconds. “They’re going to kill her if I don’t do what they want, Troy.” John noted aloud, trying his best to keep himself collected.

  “That’s not going to happen.” Troy replied. “We’re already tracking a few unknown flights out. We already have people on Mars, Luna, and all spaceports checking the traffic and inspecting all vessels.”

  “If Euler did this he’ll know how to get around all of your security measures.” John observed. “He didn’t send people to Earth to grab Julie with some half-assed plan!”

  “I know, John. We’ve come up with a few more tricks since you guys were in the Marshall’s Service.” Troy grinned. “We’ll get this bastard.”

  John stared at Troy for a while longer. It was clear that he was sizing him up. “I don’t know if I trust you, Troy – at least not with Julie’s life.”

  Troy stared back at John for a while. The ESF Agent’s expression changed from a half grin to a stoic serious demeanor. “I understand John. But know this,” Troy’s tone grew more abrasive as he pointed at John, “you better not be entertaining ideas of going out into space and trying anything on your own. I will lock you in the Isle of Wight for the rest of your life! Bet on it!”

  John stared back calmly at Troy, unsure of what to say. The Isle of Wight wasn’t a cushy prison; it was a state-of-the-art SuperMax penitentiary designed for intergalactic criminals.

  “I understand.” John offered a basic reply.

  “You know Euler will play you like a mark until he gets what he wants.” Troy added sternly. “He’s not going to find the Norn! They’re a myth! And when he learns that it won’t matter what you do….” Troy paused, trying to be cautious with his words. “We’ll find him. We’ll get your niece back to you.”

  John exhaled. He wanted this all to be over with. He wanted Julie home.

  “Okay.” John finally nodded.

  “Good.” Troy took a few steps away. “I already have an agent outside of your house. You have me keyed into your phone. We’re going to set up a stream tap on your phone coming in from the network.”

  John smirked at this in disappointment. They were going to tap his phone from the land equipment used to communicate with the wireless device.

  “It has to be done, John. The only other option is bring in a field team and put a shitload of equipment up here in our house.” Troy explained.

  “Yeah…” John nodded. “No problem.”

 
; “I’m going to step outside for a minute and make a few phone calls.” Troy noted, extending both of his hands out to John with his palms out. “DON’T go anywhere!”

  John nodded again. “Okay, Troy. No worries.”

  “We’ll get her back, John. I promise.” Troy grinned back at him. Troy turned back to the front door and opened it to step outside.

  John’s gaze returned to a cold expression as Troy shut the door.

  He sure as hell wasn’t going to let Troy and the ESF handle it. Damn him and his threats!

  Chapter 8

  Surya Prime - the second planet in the Epsilon Eridani System. At a little over 10 light years from Earth, it was a primary settlement for humanity once they ventured out into the stars. The problem was it was the Xen that settled the planet first.

  Epsilon Eridani is a bright star, much brighter than Earth astronomers believed it to be in the centuries before interstellar travel. The name Surya came from the Hindu god of the sun. Epsilon Eridani and its somewhat erratic behavior gave the founders some reason to select such a name. Aside from being brighter than anticipated, Epsilon Eridani was also prone to electromagnetic and solar flares. Eridani was a warm yellow in color, making the planet constantly appear as though it was morning during all hours of the day. This had a discomforting effect on newcomers to the planet.

  Surya Prime was covered mostly in jungle due to the high amount of infrared light that bathed the planet. The atmosphere and light around most of the planet was ideal for growing. The few metropolitan centers on the planet were rather large in size. Cities like Caledonia, New Tsingtao, and Dezhurov were roughly the size of Seattle or Miami. Two cities, Akarava and Anshan, were the size of New York and London respectively, at least in terms of area. Population-wise, both cities were somewhat smaller, especially with the war raging.

  Anshan, like the Chinese city it was named after, resided near the highlands. Tall green mountains surrounded the large city. A long wide river led away to the east where it fed into one of Surya Prime’s dark blue oceans. The city itself was comprised of many tall buildings. A good portion of them were wide and tiered, some set around a central planned plaza or atrium. The windows of each building were also tinted with gold. Much like an astronaut’s helmet, the gold helped to keep out unwanted infrared radiation. This also helped the structures remain cool in an energy-efficient manner.