The Curanian Dominance: The Linda Eccles Series - Volume Three

by Robert Woodard

  “At least this neighborhood hasn’t changed much,” Linda said to her reflection in the window.

  The city remained a central hub for part suppliers to Boeing, with urban sprawl of homes for the masses, and it was just a short hop to the space terminal for those that worked aboard the 200-ship docking terminal that kept orbit above her. It was the shuttles that constantly rose and fell from the skies that first attracted her to space travel as a child. With her father’s influence as a good friend to the then port director in her early adult years, Linda had an easy access to flight school.

  “And here I am, again, right back where I started,” Linda mumbled.

  She suddenly felt lost. For the first time in her life she didn’t have a purpose. It seemed like ever since she could remember she wanted to fly a spaceship, and her entire school-age years drove her that direction. Even in her teen years, when she was so mercilessly picked on, her drive only became stronger. Linda recalled how she would tell herself that she would prove them all wrong, and that she was not a loser.

  Nodding to her reflection in the window, she had surely done that. Although, who had she really proved it to after all these years—herself? The very girls who she feared and loathed so much in her youth had probably forgotten all about her. She didn’t need to prove anything to them, only to herself. You taught yourself to overcome diversity and hardship, Linda.

  Thinking back on her career, she could see how her continued need to always be the best excelled her from one rank to the next until she finally commanded her own ship, and she never looked back. Now, it was all over. I’m only fifty-five for heaven’s sake.

  Maybe I should travel, but where? The generations before her had managed to strip away what beauty was left on the planet in the name of progress. Gone were the parks and forest that once drew people to camp, fish, hike, and just plain have a good time. Those with money and connections managed to wrestle away control of these places, and they now were nothing more than playgrounds for the rich, those that hadn’t been turned into housing tracks, industrial parks and the like. No wonder so many people are migrating off planet.

  Europe was out, too, as it was still a mess, even after having over a hundred years to fix the damage. Although it killed millions, Linda carried deep biases that it probably served them right. Her teachers in her youth taught her to blame it on the European Union of the day. After all, according to the teachers, it was the European Union that tried to monopolize plasma technology, and in their hurry to make a profit on it, they got sloppy. When the plasma plant located in Stuffgart Germany blew, it took out everything in a radius that covered nearly half of Spain, all of France, the Eastern edges of England, and as far north as Copenhagen. Even Belarus and Ukraine suffered major losses to their Western boarders. The only thing that spared Italy was the high mountain ranges that offered protection against the plasma racing toward them.

  Even today, the rebuilding was still underway, and the population only a fraction of what it once was. Historians claim that one disaster managed to top the total loss of life and property damage from both WWI and WWII combined. Linda remembered the pictures in the e-books, and it wasn’t pretty. That ended all semblance of the European Union, and the borders that once defined each country became extinct, too. Because of the shared horrors, the entire region seemed to be blending into a single entity. What would it become? Linda couldn’t even guess. She decided she really didn’t care, either.

  “Maybe I should have made a new life for myself on Rapatine?” Linda said.

  Turning away from the window, she plopped on the edge of the bed. If it hadn’t of been for her parents, Linda was sure that Earth would have held no real bond for her anymore. There had to be some happy medium here somewhere. Maybe I should look into commanding a cross-planet freighter. I could do a daily haul and still be back in time for dinner.

  Frowning at the thought and getting up again, she returned to the window. The rain continued to pound her car and the puddles that built up on the lawn. Despite the depressive feel of the rain, she liked the way it made everything shine as if new. Even the green, blue and yellow swirled paint on her hover-car looked shinier.

  “Linda, dinner!”

  “I’ll be right down!” Linda yelled back down to her mother. The guilt of not having helped with dinner ran strong within her now. Snap out of it, Linda. You’re sulking like a spoiled child.

  Sighing, Linda left her room and took the stairs to the main level. The smell of her mother’s wonderful cooking struck her as he neared the last few steps. While she hadn’t realized she was hungry, the smell now reminded her.

  As was her mother’s tradition, the dinner was waiting them on the dining room table, along with three place settings. It reminded Linda that her sister was off on another venture delivering freight to some far-off outpost. The yearning to be out there with her ran strong. She tried to ignore it.

  “It sure smells good, Mom,” Linda said when she saw her mother come out of the kitchen carrying a glass platter.

  “Thank you, dear. It’s nice to have others to cook for again.”

  Linda smiled at the thought that her mother didn’t consider cooking for her dad as others. She asked, “Do you need any help?”

  “No, you just sit yourself down,” Donna answered.

  “I wish you would have called me down to help, Mom. I feel bad having you cook for me.”

  “Oh, nonsense. You have no idea how much I have longed to have you finally home with us for good,” Donna responded, she then turned toward the family room, and asked “Stewart, you coming?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I just want to hear this part of the news.”

  The sound of her father’s grumbling made Linda smile. She so missed the little bantering between her mother and father that defined her childhood. They loved each other, she had no doubt of that, but they did love to get on each other’s nerves, too.

  “Did you get settled into your old room?” Stewart asked as he approached.

  “I did, Dad. It feels strange to be moving back after being away all these years.”

  “When you didn’t come back down, I thought maybe you got lost up there,” Stewart joked.

  “Come on, Dad, you know I could never get lost here.”

  Stewart picked up the platter containing a pot roast, already sliced. After taking a couple of slices and plopping them onto his plate, he tilted the platter to pour some of the juice over the top. He then handed the platter to Linda while saying, “Your mother wants me to run her into Seattle tomorrow. You interested in tagging along?”

  Taking the platter, Linda answered, “I would love to.”

  After placing a slice of meat on her plate, she handed the platter to her mother and took the offered bowl of stewed potatoes from her father. Finally adding stewed carrots, Linda was ready to eat. Everything smelled heavenly. She grabbed the gravy boat and poured a liberal amount over everything.

  “I wanted to talk over something with you, dear,” Donna said, seeming hesitant to go on. She finally added, “I hope you won’t find this an intrusion.”

  “What is it, Mom?”

  “Do you remember Shellie Carmichael?”

  “I don’t think so?” Linda answered while racking her brain trying to recall the name.

  “You were pretty young when she and I used to be best of friends. She moved away when her husband changed jobs. You were around seven or eight at the time. Anyway, we connected again several years back after her husband died. She lives in Tacoma now, and we get together once a week to play bridge with a couple of other women. The reason I mention her is that she writes for e-Story International, and she was wondering if you would be interested in working with her on your story.”

  “Oh, Mom, I don’t know,” Linda responded, frowning at the idea of drumming up her past. The nightmares had finally gone away, mostly, and she didn’t want to do anything to bring them back.

  “You have a wonderful story to tell, dear. I think you should at
least talk with her,” Donna said, seeming to press the idea home.

  “Your mother’s right, Linda. You are a part of history now, and people can’t get enough of you. You might as well set the record straight and earn some credits to boot,” Stewart said. He clearly sided with her mother on the idea.

  “Just think it over, Dear. I think people should know the truth about what happened when you first encountered the Kracks. And now with that huge battle, there is even more to tell.” Donna said.

  “I promise I’ll think it over.” Linda gave them both a weak smile before taking a bite of her meal. To change the subject, she said, “Mom, this is delicious. No one will ever be able to top home cooking.”

  “Thank you, Dear.”

  “Speaking of the truth, can you tell us what really happened out there at Kracks?” Stewart asked. He put in a mouthful of meat while waiting for her response.

  Linda swallowed her bite of potato and then took a sip of her white wine to wash it down. The wine was dry and carried a slightly nutty flavor. Linda wasn’t sure if she liked it or not and decided to hold judgment until she tried some more of it.

  “Not really, but I can say that it was a draw. Admiral Litton really poured it into them, but he got his clocked cleaned, too. The Kracks fared better, but they didn’t get away clean.” Linda wasn’t allowed to say much more than that under penalty of arrest for disclosing secret information.

  She had attended a debrief with the Admiral where it was made clear that just about everything that happened out there was not to be discussed outside of official channels. She was dying to tell her parents about the aliens she rescued who were now captives on Rapatine, but she knew better. All she needed was for her mother to let it slip at her bridge game, or her father to boast about it at one of his board meetings, and she would become a permanent resident of the Governments’ prison system, or worse.

  As they ate and chatted, she wondered whatever became of the aliens she had rescued in the battle over Kracks.

  Chapter Three

  Muni found his life under human control interesting. He learned a new English word because of it—colonist. He also now knew it meant people who set up communities in remote areas. That defined him and his group quite well. The early-morning chill infiltrated his clothing as he walked alongside his fellow ship commander and captive, Nock.

  “Who would’ve ever thought that Curanians could be colonist?” Nock said.

  Muni looked at him, and replied, “Surely not me. Supreme Kold would never have allowed it. This is nothing like commanding a ship, though.”

  “It beats sitting in a cell.”

  “That’s true. Giving the choice, I would take building a new place to live over being crammed into holding areas any day.”

  Nock nodded while looking around. The rest of his and Muni’s captured crews were busy clearing sections of the land of vegetation to build dwellings. The human colony that already existed on the planet they called Rapatine provided them all they needed. Muni found it a little unnerving at times to receive so much support from the very people they would have wiped out to get at their technology.

  They both looked up as a shuttle flew past to land at the edge of a recent clearing. The hatch opened, and humans exited with tools to lend them a hand once again. Their knowledge in how to build a community proved invaluable. In fact, Muni wasn’t sure he would have even known where to start without their support.

  “Who would have ever thought you could make dwellings out of fallen trees?” Muni asked as he stared at the humans.

  “Certainly not me,” Nock replied. “How are the ribs doing today?”

  “They are a little sore, but I think this work is doing them some good.”

  Muni felt lucky to have recovered so quickly from his injuries. The Curanian medicine was clearly not as advanced at what these humans could provide. The impact to his chest during the thrashing his ship took at the hands of the human’s fleet should have kept him out of action for much longer than it did.

  “I noticed that Ohip was up and about today. She seems to be recovery quite well, too,” Nock said.

  “She’s getting better every day. She is still too weak and sore to work, but she can get around. Who would have ever thought she would have made it this far?”

  “The human’s ability to heal is clearly impressive.”

  Muni stopped walking. “I hate to say it, Nock, but these humans have shown me a completely different view of things. Just think of what would have been lost if these humans had been wiped out like so many of the others we have come across. I can’t help but think that our willing destruction of other cultures is wrong.”

  “Funny you should mention that because I have the same concerns. These humans have shown a great propensity to share what they have. Just think of what we could learn from them in their sciences. We steal technology, but their medical sciences seem far more important to me. We could learn a lot from these people if we only took the time to work with them. Instead, Supreme has us tearing species apart to take what she believes is important. And to think they have been doing this for generations.”

  Muni could hear the disgust in Nock’s tone. Muni looked all around while saying, “I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel much like a prisoner to these people.”

  “Neither do I. When they first captured my crew, I felt sure they would torture us for information, and when they got what they wanted we would have been killed. I find it hard to believe they would place us here to build our own little niche on this planet. That wasn’t even enough for them. They had to come lend us a hand, too. Who would have ever thought such a thing could happen? It almost feels like they didn’t really know what to do with us, so they tossed us here in the hope we would find our own way.”

  Nock hesitated and seemed to be pondering over Muni’s comment. “If you think about it, they didn’t have a way to return us back to our fleet. Supreme doesn’t have a policy in place for such things. From her perspective, I guess we were supposed to die with our ship. Failure isn’t something she tolerates.”

  “Isn’t that the truth? If they had been able to return us, she probably would have relegated you and I to roaming the grounds about her complex to make sure every blade of grass was perfectly level.”

  Nock laughed. “Given a choice between staying here or facing her wrath, I would choose this place every time.”

  Muni looked over at him. “What if you could have your ship back and return to Fleet?”

  “I’d have to give that more thought, I suppose. Having a good ship under me is a whole different matter. However, after interacting with these humans, I’m not sure I could support our arbitrary attack strategy anymore. I might be tempted to forget to notify Control whenever I encountered another species.”

  “You and me, both,” Muni said, nodding his head slowly in agreement.

  Nock looked over at where the others were busily working. Slapping Muni on the back, which stung his ribs, Nock said, “Come on. Let’s go get our hands dirty.”

  Trying to hide the pain, Muni responded, “A little hard work will do me good.”

  They walked toward where the Curanians and Humans were busily working together.

  Chapter Four

  Control Plon dropped into the alien system aboard the Ciat with the rest of his huge fleet. He had to admit that Nage had designed and built a fine control ship. Too bad he didn’t live to see them return to his place of defeat. At least Supreme had his body taken down from where it hung to be properly buried. Shaking his head, Plon found Supreme’s example of Nage inappropriate. Nage had been a loyal control for a long time, and she tossed him aside as if he was a broken tool. He wondered if she realized how much her subjects hated her for having him killed.

  Looking down through the ingenious see-through flooring to the command deck below, he could see Jime busily monitoring the actions of her command deck crew. While he commanded the entire fleet from his fully transparent control deck, Jime comm
anded all the functions required to keep the Ciat operational. Jime constantly showed her ability to command the large ship, and it gave him renewed respect for Nage’s ability to select good commanders. His death truly represented the loss of a highly skilled control.

  Letting the thought go, Plon looked over the mass of viewers around him to see how his fleet had positioned around the Ciat. Everything looked in order. Switching on the communication link to all ships, he ordered, “This is Control, all screeners to move forward and begin the assault.”

  Glancing at the overall tactical display on his right, he could see the positioning of his second fleet just waiting to spring the trap. While they remained well out of range of his rebounders, their transmission responders told him exactly where they were positioned.

  “Now we’ll see if we can give that alien fleet our own little surprise,” Plon said as he smiled at his well devised plan.

  The plan had been revised multiple times in his discussion with Supreme Kold. Just like with everything else that involved her, Kold was not easily accommodated, but he had finally come up with the plan she could approve. Having taken the lessons learned in Nage’s defeat, they hoped to draw in and encase the second alien fleet between two Curanian forces. The plan was simple, really. They would attack the fleet protecting this planet while waiting for the second alien fleet to arrive in support. When they did, Plon would turn to engage them in active battle. With the alien commander’s attention focused on Plon’s attack, his second fleet would come in from behind to pound them into submission. It would truly be a reversal of what they originally sprang on Nage. Revenge, Nage. May it taste sweet as you feast in it, my friend.

  Looking at the strategic viewer again, he could see the screeners moving into position to remove what was left of the protective field between the planet and his fleet. Plon found it interesting that these creatures hadn’t bothered to repair the opening made in the last battle. He suspected they realized the futility of it all and decided not to waste time on it.