China Mike

by P. A. Piatt

  The general shook his head and looked at Colonel Sobieski. “You have any questions, Colonel?”

  The Battalion commander looked visibly relieved. “None, sir.”

  “Well, Fortis, if the governor of a critical GRC operation like Eros-28 is happy that you helped him, then so am I. It sounds like you made the right decision, but you got lucky. If one of your men had been seriously wounded or killed, all the governors in the galaxy wouldn’t have been able to save your ass.

  “We operate out here without any oversight from the UNT, and we can’t afford to take sides. The decision to get involved has to be made at my level, not yours. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Now, get out of here. I’ve got an invasion to plan.”

  # # # # #

  About P.A. Piatt

  P.A. Piatt was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. After his first attempt at college, he joined the Navy to see the world. He started writing as a hobby when he retired in 2005 and published his first novel in 2018.

  His published works include the Abner Fortis, International Space Marine Corps mil-sf series, the Walter Bailey Misadventures urban fantasy trilogy, and other full-length novels in both science fiction and horror.

  All of his novels and various published short stories can be found on Amazon. Visit his website at www.papiattauthor.com.

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  The following is an

  Excerpt from Book One of the Lunar Free State:

  The Moon and Beyond

  ___________________

  John E. Siers

  Available now from Theogony Books

  eBook and Paperback

  Excerpt from “The Moon and Beyond:”

  “So, what have we got?” The chief had no patience for inter-agency squabbles.

  The FBI man turned to him with a scowl. “We’ve got some abandoned buildings, a lot of abandoned stuff—none of which has anything to do with spaceships—and about a hundred and sixty scientists, maintenance people, and dependents left behind, all of whom claim they knew nothing at all about what was really going on until today. Oh, yeah, and we have some stripped computer hardware with all memory and processor sections removed. I mean physically taken out, not a chip left, nothing for the techies to work with. And not a scrap of paper around that will give us any more information…at least, not that we’ve found so far. My people are still looking.”

  “What about that underground complex on the other side of the hill?”

  “That place is wiped out. It looks like somebody set off a nuke in there. The concrete walls are partly fused! The floor is still too hot to walk on. Our people say they aren’t sure how you could even do something like that. They’re working on it, but I doubt they’re going to find anything.”

  “What about our man inside, the guy who set up the computer tap?”

  “Not a trace, chief,” one of the NSA men said. “Either he managed to keep his cover and stayed with them, or they’re holding him prisoner, or else…” The agent shrugged.

  “You think they terminated him?” The chief lifted an eyebrow. “A bunch of rocket scientists?”

  “Wouldn’t put it past them. Look at what Homeland Security ran into. Those motion-sensing chain guns are nasty, and the area between the inner and outer perimeter fence is mined! Of course, they posted warning signs, even marked the fire zones for the guns. Nobody would have gotten hurt if the troops had taken the signs seriously.”

  The Homeland Security colonel favored the NSA man with an icy look. “That’s bullshit. How did we know they weren’t bluffing? You’d feel pretty stupid if we’d played it safe and then found out there were no defenses, just a bunch of signs!”

  “Forget it!” snarled the chief. “Their whole purpose was to delay us, and it worked. What about the Air Force?”

  “It might as well have been a UFO sighting as far as they’re concerned. Two of their F-25s went after that spaceship, or whatever it was we saw leaving. The damned thing went straight up, over eighty thousand meters per minute, they say. That’s nearly Mach Two, in a vertical climb. No aircraft in anybody’s arsenal can sustain a climb like that. Thirty seconds after they picked it up, it was well above their service ceiling and still accelerating. Ordinary ground radar couldn’t find it, but NORAD thinks they might have caught a short glimpse with one of their satellite-watch systems, a hundred miles up and still going.”

  “So where did they go?”

  “Well, chief, if we believe what those leftover scientists are telling us, I guess they went to the Moon.”

  * * * * *

  Get “The Moon and Beyond” here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097QMN7PJ.

  Find out more about John E. Siers at: https://chriskennedypublishing.com.

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  The following is an

  Excerpt from Book One of the Chimera Company:

  The Fall of Rho-Torkis

  ___________________

  Tim C. Taylor

  Now Available from Theogony Books

  eBook, Paperback, and Audio

  Excerpt from “The Fall of Rho-Torkis:”

  “Relax, Sybutu.”

  Osu didn’t fall for the man steepling his fingers behind his desk. When a lieutenant colonel told you to relax, you knew your life had just taken a seriously wrong turn.

  “So what if we’re ruffling a few feathers?” said Malix. “We have a job to do, and you’re going to make it happen. You will take five men with you and travel unobserved to a location in the capital where you will deliver a coded phrase to this contact.”

  He pushed across a photograph showing a human male dressed in smuggler chic. Even from the static image, the man oozed charm, but he revealed something else too: purple eyes. The man was a mutant.

  “His name is Captain Tavistock Fitzwilliam, and he’s a free trader of flexible legitimacy. Let’s call him a smuggler for simplicity’s sake. You deliver the message and then return here without incident, after which no one will speak of this again.”

  Osu kept his demeanor blank, but the questions were raging inside him. His officers in the 27th gave the appearance of having waved through the colonel’s bizarre orders, but the squadron sergeant major would not let this drop easily. He’d be lodged in an ambush point close to the colonel’s office where he’d be waiting to pounce on Osu and interrogate him. Vyborg would suspect him of conspiracy in this affront to proper conduct. His sappers as undercover spies? Osu would rather face a crusading army of newts than the sergeant major on the warpath.

  “Make sure one of the men you pick is Hines Zy Pel.”

  Osu’s mask must have slipped because Malix added, “If there is a problem, I expect you to speak.”

  “Is Zy Pel a Special Missions operative, sir?” There. He’d said it.

  “You’ll have to ask Colonel Lantosh. Even after they bumped up my rank, I still don’t have clearance to see Zy Pel’s full personnel record. Make of that what you will.”

  “But you must have put feelers out…”

  Malix gave him a cold stare.

  You’re trying to decide whether to hang me from a whipping post or answer my question. Well, it was your decision to have me lead an undercover team, Colonel. Let’s see whether you trust your own judgement.

  The colonel seemed to decide on the latter option and softened half a degree. “There was a Hines Zy Pel who died in the Defense of Station 11. Or so the official records tell us. I have reason to think that our Hines Zy Pel is the same man.”

  “But…Station 11 was twelve years ago. According to the personnel record I’ve seen, my Zy Pel is in his mid-20s.”

  Malix put his hands up in surrender. �
��I know, I know. The other Hines Zy Pel was 42 when he was KIA.”

  “He’s 54? Can’t be the same man. Impossible.”

  “For you and I, Sybutu, that is true. But away from the core worlds, I’ve encountered mysteries that defy explanation. Don’t discount the possibility. Keep an eye on him. For the moment, he is a vital asset, especially given the nature of what I have tasked you with. However, if you ever suspect him of an agenda that undermines his duty to the Legion, then I am ordering you to kill him before he realizes you suspect him.”

  Kill Zy Pel in cold blood? That wouldn’t come easily.

  “Acknowledge,” the colonel demanded.

  “Yes, sir. If Zy Pel appears to be turning, I will kill him.”

  “Do you remember Colonel Lantosh’s words when she was arrested on Irisur?”

  Talk about a sucker punch to the gut! Osu remembered everything about the incident when the Militia arrested the CO for standing up to the corruption endemic on that world.

  It was Legion philosophy to respond to defeat or reversal with immediate counterattack. Lantosh and Malix’s response had been the most un-Legion like possible.

  “Yes, sir. She told us not to act. To let the skraggs take her without resistance. Without the Legion retaliating.”

  “No,” snapped Malix. “She did not. She ordered us to let her go without retaliating until the right moment. This is the right moment, Sybutu. This message you will carry. You’re doing this for the colonel.”

  Malix’s words set loose a turmoil of emotions in Osu’s breast that he didn’t fully understand. He wept tears of rage, something he hadn’t known was possible.

  The colonel stood. “This is the moment when the Legion holds the line. Can I rely upon you, Sergeant?”

  Osu saluted. “To the ends of the galaxy, sir. No matter what.”

  * * * * *

  Get “The Fall of Rho-Torkis” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VRL8H27.

  Find out more about Tim C. Taylor and “The Fall of Rho-Torkis” at: https://chriskennedypublishing.com.

  * * * * *

  The following is an

  Excerpt from Book One of Murphy’s Lawless:

  Shakes

  ___________________

  Mike Massa

  Now Available from Beyond Terra Press

  eBook and Paperback

  Excerpt from “Shakes:”

  Harry shook his head and yawned, then looked at the instruments. Crap, they were very nearly on the surface! There was no time to be surprised; he needed to work the problem. The shortness of the landing checklist didn’t make his situation any less dire.

  “Ten seconds!” Volo said, unnecessarily warning both Terrans. “Prepare for manual deployment.”

  If Marco Rodriguez was anything like Harry, he was watching the altimeter with growing apprehension. An impatient SpinDog technician had carefully repeated the instructions to an audience he doubtless regarded as incapable of using tools more sophisticated than rocks and sharp sticks. In theory, each craft would use a flicker laser to sense the minimum height-over-ground required for deployment of the chute to guarantee a safe landing. If he didn’t feel the automated systems deploy the capsule’s drogue and parachute combination, he’d have less than two seconds to mechanically initiate that critical step. Harry placed both hands on the pebbly surface of the L-shaped lever and took a deep breath. He watched his displays intently, counting down internally.

  In three, two, o—

  He was interrupted by the audible pop of the drogue ribbon launching over his head. One of his screens flashed the corresponding message, as the drogue gave his capsule a single, hard jerk, pressing him heavily into his couch. After dramatically slowing the freefall to a speed the twin parachutes could withstand, the drogue detached. A second, mushier jerk announced the canopies’ successful opening.

  The capsule had barely steadied underneath the green and brown parachutes before the capsule crashed to a painful stop. The scant padding on the seat might have prevented any serious injury, but Harry still ached all over. But like the pain caused by a misaligned crotch strap during a regular jump, this was a good sort of pain to have. The parachute had worked, and the capsule was down. The cone-shaped vehicle came to rest on its side, however. Getting out was going to require a bit of scrambling.

  “Four, Five, this is Six,” he said, trusting the hands-free microphone on his helmet while hanging sideways in his straps. “Sound off.”

  “Five on the ground. Mind the first step, it’s a doozy,” Rodriguez said jauntily.

  “I’ve opened the hatch already, Lieutenant,” Volo answered. “It’s daylight, and we must cover the ships immediately.”

  “Copy,” Harry said, releasing his chest strap. He fell heavily against one of the instrument panels, painfully bruising his arm. He suppressed a heartfelt curse.

  “Popping the hatch.”

  He reached for the door lever, now inconveniently located over his head. After a pause, the capsule verified his intent, requiring a second yank before it obediently ejected the hatch outward with a percussive bang. Instantly, a cold wind filled his capsule, making him shiver. He poked his head outside and surveyed a bleak and rocky landscape which was partially obscured by the capsule’s billowing parachute.

  After donning a hooded parka from a storage cabinet underneath his feet, he withdrew his personal equipment and weapon. Then, with an athleticism he didn’t feel, Harry used an inner handhold to swing outside. On either side of his aeroshell, the terrain rose several meters in elevation, forming a shallow canyon. His ‘chute was tangled in some stunted gray-green trees that bordered the drop zone. Knee high, rust-colored spiky grass poked up in between the fist-sized stones covering much of the ground. The breeze smelled wet and musty, but the ground appeared dry. A football field distant, Harry could make out another capsule, and began trotting over. It was supposed to be dusk on R’Bak, but the overcast diffused the light. Out of reflex, he checked his wristwatch, which rode alongside a new gadget doubling as a short-range radio and compass. Both were still set to SpinDog station time, adopted during the mission prep. He supposed he could check with Volo. It didn’t matter yet. Experience had taught the SEAL exactly what time it was.

  The local hour is half past “your ass is in a sling.” My team is untested and outnumbered, the local population is mostly hostile, the wildlife carnivorous, and, in two years, the local star is going to approach its binary twin, boiling the oceans and scorching the land. Oh, and your extract off-planet depends entirely on mission success, so don’t screw up.

  Welcome to R’Bak.

  * * * * *

  Get “Shakes” now at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0861F23KH.

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  The following is an

  Excerpt from Book One of the Salvage Title Trilogy:

  Salvage Title

  ___________________

  Kevin Steverson

  Now Available from Theogony Books

  eBook, Audio, and Paperback

  Excerpt from “Salvage Title:”

  A steady beeping brought Harmon back to the present. Clip’s program had succeeded in unlocking the container. “Right on!” Clip exclaimed. He was always using expressions hundreds or more years out of style. “Let’s see what we have; I hope this one isn’t empty, too.” Last month they’d come across a smaller vault, but it had been empty.

  Harmon stepped up and wedged his hands into the small opening the door had made when it disengaged the locks. There wasn’t enough power in the small cells Clip used to open it any further. He put his weight into it, and the door opened enough for them to get inside. Before they went in, Harmon placed a piece of pipe in the doorway so it couldn’t close and lock on them, baking them alive before anyone realized they were missing.

  Daylight shone in through the doorway, and they both froze in place; the weapons vault was full. In it were
two racks of rifles, stacked on top of each other. One held twenty magnetic kinetic rifles, and the other held some type of laser rifle. There was a rack of pistols of various types. There were three cases of flechette grenades and one of thermite. There were cases of ammunition and power clips for the rifles and pistols, and all the weapons looked to be in good shape, even if they were of a strange design and clearly not made in this system. Harmon couldn’t tell what system they had been made in, but he could tell what they were.

  There were three upright containers on one side and three more against the back wall that looked like lockers. Five of the containers were not locked, so Clip opened them. The first three each held two sets of light battle armor that looked like it was designed for a humanoid race with four arms. The helmets looked like the ones Harmon had worn at the academy, but they were a little long in the face. The next container held a heavy battle suit—one that could be sealed against vacuum. It was also designed for a being with four arms. All the armor showed signs of wear, with scuffed helmets. The fifth container held shelves with three sizes of power cells on them. The largest power cells—four of them—were big enough to run a mech.