Eon Gate (The Eon Pentalogy Book 1)

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  “Or if you're a cult full of crazy people,” Rappa said. “That doesn't help either.”

  Kei watched the next round of betting, then groaned as the river card came out. “Of course.”

  “Don't give away your hand,” Bradley said.

  “Oh please, like it matters unless you're an AI and can count cards,” Rappa said with a grin. “That's why we don't let IVIN play.”

  “No, I like to sit on the sidelines and watch you all make baffling mistakes,” IVIN said over the coms system. “You all lack a basic understanding of probability.”

  “Your processors are also the size of a large house, so I don't think you can compare them.”

  Bradley won the hand, then took the deck and began shuffling for the next hand. Kei sat back in his chair, thinking. They might be under the command of a civilian company for now, but they were still soldiers. That meant they were stuck waiting, staving off boredom until the next bit of action arrived.

  What that might be was anyone's guess at this point.

  LAUREN OPENED her eyes and looked at the ceiling. How long had she slept? She glanced over at the digital clock in one corner of the room. An hour. Not nearly enough.

  Her mind registered the fact that the professor was dead, but…

  It all happened so fast. Everything after that one shot seemed completely surreal. The gun battle, the retreat to the shuttle, the plasma bolt that had glanced off her shoulder…

  Lauren touched the bandaged area. It wasn't a deep wound, nothing serious or life-threatening, but the medic had done a good job patching it up regardless. She felt a slight sting, but it wasn't very bothersome. What was his name?

  She tried to think, tried to remember, but her mind wouldn't cooperate. Maybe she couldn't remember, or maybe he had never told it to her in the first place. At this point Lauren couldn't tell, and-

  “Miss Maxwell, you have a guest,” the AI system announced.

  “OK...”

  Lauren sat up and stood up just as the door opened. She straightened up a bit as she saw who had come calling.

  “Feeling a little better?”

  “Yes, Miss Skare.”

  She waved her hand. “Nina is fine. I'm not terribly formal outside of the normal business dealings. Do you have time to talk?”

  “I don't have anything else going on right now, so...”

  “Are you in the mood to talk? I understand if you're not. The professor… Professor Hallas was a friend of mine as well. He'll be missed.”

  Lauren nodded. “Yes, he will be. I still can't believe that he's gone at this point. It's all so senseless, so...”

  “Eon Path wants the artifacts, and they're willing to shed blood in order to obtain them. That tells me they think they're something important, and they'll go to any lengths to retrieve them.”

  Lauren nodded again.

  “Is there anything you can tell me about what you were working on? Anything that might have attracted them, made them want to obtain the artifacts at any cost? I don't feel content to just let them go into the cosmos.”

  She didn't answer.

  “Is there anyone on the staff that might be a sympathizer?”

  Lauren shook her head. “I don't… I don't know. It's all jumbling together right now. I can try, but it's hard to...”

  Nina nodded. “I understand. And we can discuss this later, once you've had time to clear your head properly. Until then, if you need anything then you can ask IVIN about it. He'll either accommodate you or communicate it to the person that can help you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Oh no, thank you. We're the ones inconveniencing you right now. Thank you for the help you've already given us, and for your continued assistance. I'm looking forward to working with you more.”

  Lauren watched Nina leave the room, then flopped back down on her bed. She couldn't focus or concentrate on the situation at hand. Too many things swirled around inside her head. And the arrival of Eon Path…

  She laid a forearm over her eyes and sighed. What was going on here?

  CHAPTER THREE

  The sound of a blaring alarm cut through his dream. Kei sat up and rolled out of bed, quickly putting on his boots and pulling on his jacket. He already had the rest of his uniform on, thanks to them being on alert. Even a minute's delay could be crucial.

  “Unidentified hostiles closing in on our position. All crew to alert status. All crew to alert status.”

  Nina's voice cut in over the intercom. “Looks like Eon Path sent a couple of ships after us. We'll see what they want, but don't panic.”

  Kei stepped out of his quarters and almost ran into Lauren.

  “What are we supposed to do?”

  “Right now? Go to your quarters and strap yourself in. We might have to turn off the artificial gravity.”

  “Might?”

  “It depends on what they want. I-”

  He stopped speaking as Nina walked toward them. “Not to worry. Both of you, come with me.”

  That surprised him, but Kei fell in behind her. “Is there any particular reason? I-”

  “You don't have an assigned station other than boarding, and we're not expecting that at all. You haven't seen us engage anyone in space, so consider this your initiation. And Lauren, there's no point in you sitting in your quarters wondering what's going on. Just please stay out of the way.”

  “I will.”

  Kei followed her down the length of the hallway and then up the stairs to the bridge. Cheryl was seated at the pilot's station, with Soko at the copilot's chair.

  “You're familiar with standard weapons stations?” Nina asked.

  Kei nodded. “Yes, I was certified.”

  “Then park yourself in one of the chairs, although IVIN is going to be doing most of the work if it comes to that.”

  Kei took a seat and strapped himself in, glancing at the vast array of screens and readouts before him. Right now they meant very little if their commander didn't want to stand and fight.

  NINA DIRECTED Lauren to another seat and then walked up behind Soko's chair.

  “So what do we have here?”

  “At the moment looks like three Dragon-class corvettes. They're on the older side and I can't identify any registry numbers or other information about them.”

  “Huh, not unusual. Have they hailed us yet?”

  “No, right now they seem to be keeping us at a distance, probably hoping that we don't notice them. For all they know it's working. To them we just look like a regular Voyage-class yacht.”

  “Huh, they're going to get a rude awakening if they think anything else,” Nina shrugged. “Let's rattle them a little bit, see how they respond. IVIN?”

  “Yes?”

  “Send a standard distress signal. Broadcast that we're being attacked by pirate raiders and let's see if they try to jam us or close in. Stick to only using things a standard Voyage would have.”

  “Understood.”

  “So you want to bait them? Assuming that you're correct and it's Eon Path-”

  “Why let them get close?” Nina asked. “Simple, really. I want to make sure it's actually them before we open fire. I'm not concerned about three corvettes.”

  “You have no idea what they're packing.”

  “Realistically, what are they going to be able to fit inside a corvette that's going to be able to threaten us?”

  “Realistically? There's a lot of things you can fit inside a corvette that can threaten a yacht.”

  “A standard yacht, that's true. But we're not on a standard yacht. We're on the Starlight,” Nina said.

  If the enemy wanted to fight they had plenty of nasty surprises waiting for them. Messing with an arms dealer would be their last, fatal mistake.

  “Distress signal has been sent,” IVIN said.

  “Looks like they realize it too,” Cheryl spoke up, looking at one of the displays. “They're speeding up and heading toward us at an intercept angle.”

  “What's our shie
ld status?”

  “Currently at thirty percent,” IVIN said.

  “Raise to fifty for now. No use giving them an opportunity to hit us.”

  “Shouldn't they be up all the way?” Lauren asked.

  “Waste of power and helium-3,” Nina replied, for a moment regretting asking her to come along. She bit back her response, though. She was a civilian not used to this kind of situation, and besides, even a trained military mind might think they were in a serious predicament right now.

  “We're being hailed by one of the corvettes,” Kei said from his station.

  “Patch it through, if you please. I'll handle negotiations. And IVIN, get us ready to jump on my signal.”

  “Understood, Miss Skare.”

  A moment later the image of the enemy commander flashed up on screen. As suspected, he wore the light grey uniform of Eon Path.

  “You know,” she said, “for an organization that tries to operate covertly, you sure like to advertise who you work for,” Nina said. “You think the feds are going to treat you kindly after all the bodies we left behind on Caleth?”

  “That's the least of your concerns right now. Hand it over now.”

  “A specific item or person would be much more helpful.”

  “Don't play dumb with me. You know what we're after. We want the artifact that you ran off with.”

  “Oh? I think I want all the artifacts you stole from us, after you killed an innocent civilian and tried to do the same to us.”

  “Enough. We can sift through your wreckage, if you're going to be obstinate.”

  “And you're not a very good negotiator.”

  “Enemy weapons powering up,” IVIN warned.

  A few seconds later several plasma shots deflected off the shields.

  “That's your one and only warning,” the enemy captain said. “Power down your engines and-”

  “As if I'm going to let any of you come aboard my ship to pick up the artifact, even if I wanted to give it up. You think I'm stupid? IVIN, jump immediately.”

  “Understood, Miss Skare.”

  The metal shutters slid down over the bridge windows, and a few seconds later the flight computer signaled they were in the wormhole.

  “That should be enough to get them off our tail for now,” Soko said.

  Cheryl looked down at her console. “Assuming that one of them doesn't have a wormhole borer as well.”

  “Would a corvette of that size have enough space to store it and the power generators needed for that?”

  “If they took out most of the weapons systems then yes. And they'd probably have extra shielding out in realspace thanks to the amount of extra power they're carrying.”

  “We'll worry about until we get there. IVIN, where are we headed?” Nina asked.

  “I set a course for Caleth Seven. That should give us enough distance from the enemy while minimizing our deviation from the original flight plan. We should arrive in five minutes.”

  As IVIN predicted the Starlight dropped out of the wormhole five minutes later. The shutters retracted, and for a moment Nina thought they were free. But that was short-lived.

  “We have three contacts dropping out of wormhole space behind us,” Kei said.

  Nina leaned back in her chair and smirked. “Well, well. Things are starting to become very interesting, aren't they?”

  “We have another incoming message from the enemy flagship.”

  “OK, I'll bite again.”

  Nina didn't even bother to hide her expression of satisfaction as the enemy commander appeared onscreen.

  “Trying to run and hide won't work on us. Now, this is your last warning. Power down your engines and submit to boarding, or you will-”

  “I'd like to see you try to destroy us,” she retorted. “IVIN, don't bother wasting munitions on them. Have you figured out which one has the wormhole borer?”

  “I have.”

  “Lock on target and switch the ship to combat readiness.”

  She saw the livid expression on the enemy commander's face.

  “You-”

  Nina cut him off. “If you believe in a god, start praying,” she said. “IVIN, cut the feed. I have no need to talk to dead men.”

  KEI FELT the artificial gravity switch off. The shields were now charged at full power, but the blare of alarms warned them that the enemy had locked onto their ship.

  He felt the Starlight reverberate as plasma shots began slamming into the shields. The trio of enemy ships closed in on them, trying to reach point-blank range and maneuver toward the yacht's rear quarter. Once they reached it they'd blast the engines and cripple the ship, leaving it vulnerable to boarding.

  “Officer Maeda, we are ready to fire on your command,” IVIN said.

  Kei nodded. “Fire.”

  “Make sure to only use the plasma batteries. We don't need to waste the mass driver ammo or missiles,” Nina said.

  Lauren spoke. “Are we really going to be able to fight three warships-”

  The Starlight shuddered, and a moment later plasma blasts skipped off the shields of the leftmost corvette. Another volley impacted, then another. The fourth one brought down the shields, and several blasts raked their way across the enemy's hull.

  “Kill it,” Nina ordered.

  The ship adjusted its aim and fired. Plasma shots tore into the corvette's hull and ripped it apart.

  “Next target?” Kei asked.

  “Pick whatever one you want,” Nina said.

  “IVIN, lock onto the rightmost corvette he ordered.”

  “Understood.”

  That ship was the furthest away right now, and by this point the enemy had figured out what they were up against. Both ships had turned and flared their engines, hoping to escape the massacre.

  But without their companion they probably couldn't outrun them. The Starlight had much larger engines and could project its energy weapons farther thanks to its huge bank of plasma reactors. They could simply run down the enemy and rip them apart. That didn't even account for all the other weapons systems this ship packed.

  “Locked on target again,” IVIN said.

  Kei nodded. “Fire.”

  “You know,” Nina said, “should I contact the last ship? Give them a chance to surrender and interrogate them for information?”

  “How are we going to do that? We don't have enough troops to board them, unless you want to use the entire drone complement. And even that might not be enough,” Soko said.

  “Hmm, true enough.”

  Kei watched volley after volley of plasma bolts tear through the second corvette. “Lock onto the last one, IVIN.”

  “Understood.”

  He glanced up at Nina. “What are your orders?”

  “We're probably not going to get any information out of them even if we capture them. And messing around is too risky. They might be able to ram us or board us if they turn around and charge. Kill it.”

  “You heard her.”

  “Indeed I did. Firing on the enemy vessel.”

  Kei thought that IVIN almost sounded pleased about that, but it was probably just his imagination. It wasn't like he didn't feel some grim sense of satisfaction about the whole affair. If Eon Path wanted to start a war with them they'd respond with overwhelming force.

  This was one of the few times he felt like he had a personal vendetta against his enemy. Kei had fought plenty of other foes, but it was just the business of war. This, however, felt a lot more personal for some reason. Maybe it was because Eon Path had attacked them completely unprovoked.

  Still, he could spare an ounce of sympathy for the enemy sailors having their ships torn apart by the Starlight's rampage.

  “Are we scooping any prisoners?”

  “No, that's too risky. We'll drop a distress buoy for any survivors.”

  “I'll add the alert that they're criminals and should be considered armed and dangerous.”

  Lei wasn't sure any of it would be needed. He had seen plenty of
shipwrecks before, dug through their ruins on the faint chance they could rescue survivors. If there were any, he could probably count the number on two hands.

  NINA TURNED her seat around and faced Lauren. “So, this is rather interesting. Eon Path certainly wants to go to great lengths to recover one small item. Enough to spend a lot of resources to get their hands on it.”

  “I don't know.”

  “Oh, but I think we do now. This little misadventure confirms it all.”

  Lauren straightened up. “Wait a minute. You planned on this?”

  “Not quite the way things turned out, but I suspected they wanted to get their hands on whatever you were carrying. I thought they might send a single warship, not a flotilla, but still. This is all the confirmation that I need.”

  “If they're after something then they're not going to let up after a minor setback,” Soko said.

  “How much more can they send?” Lauren demanded.

  Nina didn't know the answer to that question. No one did. Even scouring the records, calling in favors from friends and contacts in a variety of intelligence agencies, utilizing the wide net of resources that Skare Interstellar possessed, no one knew the full extent of Eon Path's capabilities. Many barely bothered. To them the group was just one of many brigand outfits, the only distinction being their unique creed.

  However, in her opinion they had the potential to become a powerful and very dangerous force. They might already be at that point. The scant firm data they had been able to gather indicated their main base of operations was in the Central Expanse, a sparsely populated and relatively lawless sector of the galaxy. The various federations and nations only bothered with it because its locations held strategic value, not because of any resources or population centers.

  In a place like that they could lurk in the shadows, gradually amassing resources, followers and power. What would that lead to? What would their goals be? Nina couldn't begin to guess them at this point, but they could be very dangerous if her team continued to run afoul of them.

  But at this point she couldn't back down, either. Skare Interstellar was one of the most powerful corporations in the galaxy, and she wasn't about to be intimidated by a few terrorists.