The Nathan Daniels Saga: Part 4
Page 1
The Nathan Daniels Saga
Part 4
by
Sam Lippert
On the Interwebs:
http://samlippert.com
Text copyright ©2017 Samuel A. Lippert
All Rights Reserved
Cover Art copyright ©2015 Rosanna Jones
All Rights Reserved
Acknowledgments
Special thank you to Dionne for wonderfully being a part of my life.
Many thanks to my family and friends without whom this would not have been possible,
Thanks to Damon for proofreading and copy editing.
Thanks to Rosanna for her wonderful cover art, and thanks to my sister Trudie for turning that art into a beautiful cover!
Finally, thanks to you, the reader, for purchasing this novella.
Dedication
This one is dedicated to my daughter Veronica.
I shouldn't have to say this, but...
All original characters in this work are fictitious! Any similarity to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. However, mythical and historical characters are my interpretation of those characters, and any similarity to their actual persona is intentional, however the accuracy is not guaranteed.
From the Author:
One of the nice things about producing the fourth book in a series in that I can take a little bit of space, and instead of trying to create a ‘blurb’ or a scene that is meant to make you want to buy the book, talk to you instead. Because, if you are looking at buying this book, you likely have already read the previous three, and I can consider you an ‘old friend,’ in a way. Much as I hope you feel about Nathan, Remi, Omany, and the many other characters I am lucky enough to be able to spin yarns about.
First, I want to offer an apology for the over two years that have transpired between the publication of TNDS:P3 and this installment. I have no excuse to offer other than this: LIFE. Sometimes the life we have is markedly different from the life we expect, or the life we want. The last few years for me brought the ending of one relationship and the beginning of a new and wonderful one. I have moved twice, only to end up (happily) back where I started. I embarked on the adventure of being a mobile/wedding DJ, an endeavor which has been successful enough to really eat into my available writing time, but not successful enough to replace my primary source of income. Combine all of this with major home improvement projects and it has been very difficult to spend time writing, both because of actual lack of time, and the feeling that there is always something else that I should be doing.
That isn’t to say that I haven’t been working on this story at all during this time, but it was always in a fits-and-starts, bit-and-pieces kind of way, usually not more than a thousand words at a time. I even set aside blocks of time to write, including a cross country train trip this last summer, a trip which, while adding several thousand words to the manuscript, still did not complete it.
Then, about thirty-six hours ago, I discovered that after several months of no book sales at all, I had sold three books. One was the compilation version Want to Go for a Ride In My Spaceship?, one was for The Nathan Daniels Saga: Part 2, and finally a sale of The Nathan Daniels Saga: Part 3. I was positively giddy with excitement, so much so that I wrote, nearly continuously, for the next two days in order to finish the rough draft of the book you now hold in your hands.
It’s been a long time coming, and I hope you find it worth the wait. I intend to once again make writing a priority, and produce the remainder of the series in a more timely manner. But until then, I present to you, the beginning of Act II: The Nathan Daniels Saga: Part 4.
But first, how about a brief recap of the story so far?
Sam Lippert
February 9, 2017
Cincinnati, Ohio
Previously on the Nathan Daniels Saga…
Freewheeling space trader Captain Nathan Daniels, at the behest of the Empress of Kalifet agreed to, over the course of a year, transport Princess Remini and her mentor Omany, High Priest of Verstat, to the Capital of the Kingdom of Rathshelliam where she is to wed the twelve-year-old crown prince, as required by a treaty that ended decades of war between the two peoples.
After a series of narrow escapes and visits to several interesting worlds, the good ship Nola is beset by a group of traitors led by General Marag, captain of the Empress’ bodyguard. Nathan is left for dead, aboard the disabled Nola, while the Princess and Omany are taken aboard Kurufet Rising, the flagship of the Empress herself.
Omany is thought to be dead, and his ‘body’ is in the morgue, while General Marag attempts to convince the Princess that her memories of the last few months are nothing more than fever induced hallucinations.
General Marag’s resistance is being funded (and controlled) by a rogue Rathshelliam admiral by the name of Sokolov, and Marag docks the Kurufet Rising at one of the three space stations that make up the Consortium, in order to receive more funds from the Admiral. While in port, the Princess and Omany, with the help of Devka, a member of Kalifet Imperial Intelligence and Mory, a priest of Verstat, make their escape.
Meanwhile, Captain Daniels executes miraculous repairs on the Nola and proceeds to a different space station within the Consortium, that being the nearest port he can limp his crippled ship to. With the help of an old friend named Tranda, and Winette, KII agent and former handmaiden to the Princess, Nathan is re-united with Princess Remini and General Marag is defeated.
The crew of the Nola leave the Consortium and head to the Libertarian paradise of Rand, where they are caught up in a revolution by the working class, led by Prescilla Anderson, former lover of Nathan’s. Omany is captured by The Collector who has plans to use thirteen Verstaten Priests and the current unrest on Rand to seize control of the government there. Devka makes her way back to Kalifet and Mory heads to Verstat to report Omany for a grave transgression.
Winette discovers that Captain Jeremy James, space trader and ‘brother’ of Nathan Daniels, has been compromised and enlisted by Sokolov to track the Nola and assist in the capture of Princess Remini. She makes her way to Rand by high speed courier ship, where she reunites with the Princess and Nathan.
The crew of the Nola, with the assistance of Prescilla’s revolutionaries, try and fail to rescue Omany from The Collector and Nathan, Remini and Winette are forced to leave him behind on Rand.
One night after leaving Rand, Nathan is visited in his cabin by one of the women aboard his ship…
For a more detailed account, check out: Want To Go For a Ride In My Spaceship?
CHAPTER XX
Nathan was alone when he woke. As he lay in his bed, he found that the events of the night were no less confusing in the light of day. In fact, alone in his bed, he was confronted with the very real possibility that what had happened last night was, in fact, a dream.
When his cabin door had opened, the woman standing there had been silhouetted, as his cabin had been in near total darkness. It was not until she was kissing him that Nathan had realized that Winette had climbed into bed with him, not Remi, his love.
That knowledge had not stopped Nathan in the heat of the moment. His first thought had been somewhat akin to horror! What if Remi found out? How could he possibly be able to share this small ship with both women and be expected to keep a secret like this? Even in the midst of his panic, Nathan did not stop the kiss, he was far too much of a gentleman for that.
Some rapid-fire processing had gone on in the Captain's cortex. Looking back, he could not actually remember the individual thoughts, but in the end his conclusion was that, given the relationship between Winette and Remi, it simply was not possible that Winette could be in his bed without Remi k
nowing, approving, and maybe even encouraging it.
The really strange part was that, when their passion reached its peak, it had honestly felt as if Remi were there! If Nathan had not known it to be impossible, he would have sworn that not only did he see Remini in her sister's eyes, but it was as if she was also standing next to the bed watching, which had added to the dream-like nature of the encounter.
When he had mistakenly called her by Remi's name, Winette had just beamed.
In the end, Daniels put it aside, arose out of bed and got in the shower. Sure, he was still confused, but if he analyzed things any further someone was going to revoke his Man Card.
* * *
Remi was on her fourth shower, an act that she knew would strain the Nola’s water reclamation system to the limit but, she could not rid herself of the 'dirtiness' that she felt. Not only had she invaded the privacy of two people she cared deeply about, she had utilized her training in a very inappropriate manner.
At first it had been somewhat innocent. After the cajoling it had taken to convince Winette to seduce Nathan, Remi had simply intended to watch for just long enough to know that things were going according to plan.
Remi had slipped out of her body at the appropriate time and made her way to Nathan's cabin while on the ethereal plane. Truth be told, this had not been her first time visiting Nathan's cabin in the dead of night. She liked to watch the Captain sleep as much as she liked to watch him while he was awake.
Remi had honestly intended to leave as soon as her sister slid into the bed of the man she loved, but when the time came, she could not bring herself to. Like a rodent transfixed by the snake about to make a meal of it, she stayed and watched, unable to even move a fraction of an ethereal millimeter closer to the door.
Such was her emotional connection to the participants before her, that she found as things 'heated up' between them, she was drawn closer and closer to the bed. With every touch, every kiss, every gentle sigh or moan, she found herself more intertwined with the lovers. Then, as the pair reached the sweet agony that is climax, she suddenly found herself to be one with them. She saw Winette through her love's eyes, and Nathan through the eyes of her sister, all while being overwhelmed by their inner thoughts and feelings. It was as if she had downloaded their souls in that fraction of a second. In that instance, she knew they were both aware of her presence.
The overload of the situation made her want to pass out, but to do so without the anchor of your body means risking never making it back. A good number of unexplained deaths over the millennia could be attributed to people leaving their bodies while sleeping and never finding their way back for one reason or another.
It took great effort, but the Princess made it back to the safety of her body before succumbing completely to unconsciousness.
When the fourth shower did not wash away the shame of what she had done, she dressed and went in search of breakfast.
* * *
Winette woke elated. She always felt this way after sex. She had known women who felt dirty or ashamed after engaging in the act, but that was something she never understood. If you are going to beat yourself up over it, why do it in the first place? After all, you were the one in control of your actions, not anyone else.
The KII agent never felt closer to anyone than when she was having sex with them. She had been rated empathic bordering on telepathic by the Agency's Psy-ops Division, and had been trained accordingly. During her training the Division discovered something she had known for as long as she had been sexually active: she could, quite literally, read a person's mind when having sex. A person engaged in the act with her had no secrets. This was quite a useful talent in an Intelligence agent. The fact that she enjoyed it was simply icing on the cake.
She had only balked when her sister had asked her to bed Nathan because she knew his feelings for Remini. They were obvious even to someone who was not Empathic! Winette had bedded men who were in love with another before, and stepping into the conflict in their mind when it happened left her nauseated. Those where the few times that she had not enjoyed sex.
Remini had eventually won the argument. She had pointed out that Nathan was not only intelligent enough to understand that his love for her could never come to fruition, but he would also realize that Winette would not come into his bed without knowing that the Princess was okay with it. She was very happy to say that Remini had been right on both counts. When Nathan's soul had been laid bare to her, there was no trace of the darkness she usually found when the person in her bed loved another.
This time, however, something strange occurred when the connection happened. At the moment when she found herself inside of Nathan's mind, she could feel her sister's presence as well, much the same way as she had the few times that the two of them had 'experimented' in the past. Winette was not sure how or why it had happened, but her sister had definitely been there. This fact did not confuse or disturb her, it elated her. She loved Remini and she was happy to have shared such a moment with her. Especially as she knew her Princess would not take it upon herself to take Nathan Daniels for a spin.
She jumped out of bed and headed to the gym for a quick workout before breakfast. Although, truth be told, she really did not need one after last night!
* * *
Things were decidedly different at breakfast. Nola was still new, so to speak, to human interactions, but even she could sense the difference the night had made in the relationships between the members of her human family.
Because of her cameras throughout the ship, Nola had known the instant Winette had entered the Captain’s cabin. Without conscious effort, she had calculated her sister’s stay at two hours, thirty-four minutes, twenty-eight seconds, and five hundred seventy-two thousand, seventy-five microseconds. Winette had been glistening with sweat, had an elevated heart rate and showed signs of capillary dilation when she had emerged. Nola knew these were signs of sexual activity, and assumed that was what her sisters had discussed privately the day before.
What Nola did not understand was the interactions between ‘her’ humans at breakfast that morning. Nathan was noticeably uncomfortable with both women. His usual sarcastic remarks and impish sense of humor were nowhere to be seen. Her ‘first sister,’ Nola thought of Remi as such because she was the first she had used that familial term with, seemed similarly uncomfortable, even though based on Nola’s logic, Remini had been the one that had initiated the encounter.
Quite the opposite of the other two humans, her ‘second sister’ Winette seemed even more herself than usual. She was acting in the fashion that humans generally referred to as ‘glowing.’ In fact, her second sister whistled while she prepared breakfast, as Nathan and Remi sullenly stared into their coffee.
Nola did a quick calculation of the probability this dysfunction would persist, and the impact it would have on the performance and mental health of her family. Something had to be done.
“Listen, kiddos,” the computer said. “We need to address the big ass elephant in the room. Two of you hooked up last night, two of you are bothered by it, and all three of you need to talk about it or I am going to end up a derelict in space somewhere after one of you snaps and goes all murder-suicide.” Nola’s avatar was still that of an eleven-year-old, adding an air of petulance to her statement.
“So, let’s start with the Captain.” Nola’s screen form looked toward Nathan. “Nathan, was there something lacking in Winette’s performance last night? It is obvious from her mood this morning the problem wasn’t in your performance.” Winette, who was standing behind Nathan, snickered.
“Nola,” Nathan said in an even tone, obviously fighting to keep from raising his voice. “Kindly mind your own business. This in no way concerns you.”
In a matter of milliseconds, the AI programmed and executed several subroutines, although she did not think of it that way. The galley went dark except for emergency lighting, and the comforting sound of the air re-circulation system disappeared.
After a pause so brief that Nola almost couldn’t measure it, all three humans erupted in laughter. A look of confusion swept across her avatar’s face.
“Would you mind letting me in on the joke?”
“Nola, dear,” Remi said, attempting to fight back the laughter. “You intend to keep from becoming a derelict by… Threatening to turn us into one?” Guffaws once again erupted from the Princess, keeping her companions from regaining control.
“Well… I… Harrump!” Nola’s screens went blank, but power was restored to the rest of the ship.
When the laughter finally subsided, Winette delivered a plate of hotcakes to Nathan and Remi, sitting across from them with a plate for herself. “Little sis is right,” she said. “We need to deal with this ‘big ass elephant’ before it gets even bigger.
“Nathan, as you correctly deduced, Remi knows I was in your bed last night. In fact, it was her idea! So, there is absolutely no reason for you to be acting despondent and distant. Remi nudged me in your direction not because she doesn’t love you, but because she does! The fact that you ‘took the bait,’ so to speak, doesn’t mean you love her any less, it simply means that you, like her, realize that the two of you cannot be together. You have someone who loves you and someone who is willing to share your bed, they just don’t happen to be the same woman.” Winette paused and shoveled some hotcakes into her mouth, to give what she said a chance to penetrate Nathan’s skull.