“Of course. It has been only five days. Including the agreed upon daily interest, the sum to repay stands at 96,255 piTec, barely four thousand more than the initial loan. The implant will be another 500.”
“Here you go,” Lana said, extracting the required amount from the crystalized piTec Nori had given her.
The tall creature gracefully accepted. “I will return the shuttle to your ship immediately. It has been a pleasure doing business with you and your crew. I’m quite pleased the Warped didn’t kill you. I would have lamented such an outcome.”
“Err, thanks, I guess,” Lana said awkwardly. She looked at the teardrop-shaped item in her palm. It looked exactly the same. “It feels a lot lighter.”
“Perhaps you would like to buy more items from me?” Alzigo suggested. “I have a case of excellent Exhar ale. It is quite treasured by many other species and can be resold, to the right buyer, for a large profit.”
“I think I’ll pass, thanks.” Lana looked around. “Once Unity is repaired, we’re going to head out to your brother’s station. As another Exhar facility, I doubt they’ll need some of their own drink.”
Alzigo’s double jaws slackened. “I see. So you intend to head to Hammerhead station next. In that case, the ale will not be valuable. No, what Hammerhead values most are alloys and mined resources.”
Lana blinked at him. “Huh?”
“My brother’s station is situated near an asteroid field in the Alpha Centauri system,” he said. “The area is home to many mines. Hammerhead caters to them. They serve as a forward merchant outpost, allowing traveling traders to buy resources in bulk while offering miners a market to sell their wares. My brother rakes in the taxes, with hardly any need for actual work.”
“That’s … unfortunate?”
The alien nodded. “He is the bright star of my family. In any case, if you are going there, it would be a good opportunity for you to make a profit. I happen to know that the asteroids around this station have low concentrations of Aluminum, which is a key component for several valued alloys. You can make a good profit by selling it there. Especially as your solar system seems to be saturated with it.
“Thanks for the tip,” Lana said. “I’ll pass it along.”
“One other thing,” Alzigo hesitated. “I’d like to request a … favor.”
Lana looked at him expectantly.
“I have a package I’d like delivered to a friend who’s staying at Hammerhead. Could I trouble you to deliver it to her in person?”
“I guess ... err, what’s in the package?”
“Just … personal items I have borrowed and would like to return. The delivery address is on the package. You can find her location via the station’s public terminals.”
“Alright,” Lana said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. “It’s just that--”
“Excellent!” the tall alien beamed at her. “I’ll have the package delivered to your ship immediately.”
“But--” Lana started again, only to be cut off for the second time as Bulco’s voice came over her communication implant.
“The repair work is finished. Our shuttle is back, and we’re good to go.”
“We’re on our way,” Nori’s voice answered him. “Lana, are you done?”
“I guess,” the young woman said, glancing up at her host. “There’s a few last things … I’ll catch you all up back on Unity. See you there.” She turned to Alzigo. “I guess this is goodbye, for now. Thank you for everything.”
“It was my pleasure, Miss.”
***
They reconvened at the docking bay. The three women looked on with amazement through the air lock’s windows.
“Well?” Bulco said wide a wide grin. “What do you think about my little addition?”
Large words were painted on the side of the ship, proudly declaring their identity to all.
Unity
Earth Force
“Not bad,” the Navigator said.
“I like it.” Lana smiled at him.
“Badass,” Cattie agreed. “So what are we up to next? We’re finally going to test the new warp drive?”
“Null Tunnel,” the Navigator corrected her, leading the others into the ship. “And no, we’re going to make a quick pit stop on the moon first.”
“The moon?” The Sharpshooter frowned. “What the hell for?”
“We found something interesting the last time we were there,” Lana explained. “We wanted to check it out before we leave our solar system.”
“And then?”
Nori’s eyes grew distant. “And then we’ll go looking for whoever did this to us.”
Bulco smiled grimly. “And make sure they pay for it.”
“Or, you know,” Lana added. “Something a little less ominous sounding.”
“But equally permanent,” the Engineer finished.
Cattie looked between them with an amused grin. “I can already tell this is going to be fun.”
***
The loud banging carried on for hours.
“Don’t worry,” Richard, a bearded man wearing a hunting suit, told his frightened guests. “I’ve been preparing this bunker for years. The walls are reinforced concrete and the door is twelve inches of carbon steel. Nothing is going to come through it.”
The other people looked at each other uneasily. They had been huddled in Richard’s bunker for several weeks, and though it offered more safety than any other man-made construct so far, the monsters were still trying to get them. Every few days the banging would continue and last for a while, until the crazed creatures gave up and went looking for easier prey.
The noises quieted down and everyone breathed a little easier.
“See?” Richard said arrogantly. “Nothing can go through--”
A terrible screeching sound pierced the air. Everyone’s head snapped toward the steel door at the end of the staircase. Three sharp claws pierced the durable portal and were slowly moving down, rending it apart.
“Impossible,” Richard said, wide eyed.
Another set of claws swiped horizontally through the door, slicing out a small part of it. The claws retracted and a fleshy tendril probed through the opening instead. An eye blinked open at the end of the limb, taking in the sight of the panicked humans.
The monster roared an unearthly sound.
Then there was a loud bang, a swoosh of energy, and the fleshy tendril blew apart, spraying blood and gore at everyone in the bunker.
A woman screamed.
“Hey, anyone still alive down there?” A man’s muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door.
“Ye-yes?” Richard answered with a quivering voice.
“You can come out now,” the man said cheerfully. “It’s safe.”
The survivors looked at each other, then as one, they rushed up the stairs. The heavy door banged open, finally letting in some fresh air.
As Richard blinked in the dazzling sunlight, he saw a grinning man holding a futuristic looking pistol in one hand. Two armored vehicles were parked behind him, and above them … Richard rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Hovering a few meters above the vehicles was an honest-to-god alien spaceship.
The man holding the pistol followed his gaze and chuckled. “Yeah, it can be a bit overwhelming. Just me and my crew, doing the good Samaritan thing.”
“Who are you people?” Richard asked with an awed voice.
The man held up his hand. “The name’s Martin, a Justicar. Earth Force’s special unit. Welcome to the new world.”
***
Back on Unity’s bridge, the captain operated her light console and the freighter gradually picked up speed, putting distance between her and the space station.
Earth appeared in all its splendor on the main viewscreen, the sun illuminating its upper half.
They spent a few seconds in silence, watching the blue and brown orb shrinking away.
“Do you think we’ll make it?” Lana asked quietly. “Rebuild
and save everyone, I mean.”
“We will,” Nori said confidently. “We are not alone anymore. We have people who stand with us and who rely on us to succeed. We are all Earth Force now.”
Lana nodded and then smirked.
“And I’m the Expert.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you for reading Earth Force - the first book in the new ‘Relict Legacy’ universe.
Earth Force is my first attempt at writing gameLit sci-fi and I hope I did it justice. I was aiming for a slow progression story that showcases a new galaxy - along with the main characters as they explore and discover more about the truth of their existence. I hope I succeeded in conveying that feeling.
If you have read my previous work, you’ll note this book contained a bit more profanity - I wrote as I felt real people would have talked - and let’s be honest - most of us are a bunch of rude bastards :)
If you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to leave a review (preferably a 5-star one :)
Reviews are the bread and butter of us indie authors, so leaving one will go a long way toward showing your support and help me to continue writing and releasing more books.
And lastly, if you take one thing from this book, then remember: Artichokes are aliens.
***
If you enjoyed this book, maybe you’ll like my other published series: Life Reset (New Era Online).
It’s a three-book LitRPG series that has a lot of base building and character growth. Oh, and the main character is a goblin. Check it out.
***
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Earth Force (Relict Legacy Book 1) Page 37
