Transition (Stryker Team Book 2)

by Frank Carey

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  COPYRIGHT

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Transition

  Stryker Team Book 2

  By Frank Carey

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2017 by Frank Carey

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  League Tale #40

  CHAPTER ONE

  Captain Kalana Grenor stood staring out the window while wondering where to begin. On her desk sat an invitation from Lady Diana Ventana, head of the Ventana Family, one of the most powerful families in the League. She now had unfettered access to a vast storehouse of data, data which could help her find her fiancé’s killer. The problem was that she had no idea what to do with it. A knock at her door interrupted her train of thought.

  "Enter!"

  The door opened and a Basili woman walked in and came to attention while saluting. "Private Mersa reporting as ordered, ma'am!"

  Kalana returned the salute. "At ease. Yeah, about that rank. I've been authorized to promote you to the rank of Sergeant. Congratulations."

  Mersa flapped her wings, a sign of nervousness. "Thank you, Captain."

  "You and Trent did spectacularly on Meltor, and I need you both on this mission to find Colonel Ventana's murderer. Due to the nature of this mission, I can't order you to help. All I can do is ask."

  "I'm in. What do you need me to do?"

  The door opened and an Alue walked in to join the two women. He stood at attention and saluted. "Ma'am, is she in?"

  "Yes, Sergeant Trent, she's in."

  Trent smiled at the Basili. "We are so going to do this."

  "Do what, ma'am, if I may ask?"

  "It has come to my attention, Mersa, that you are a top-tier computer whiz and hacker. Is this true?" Kalana asked.

  More nervous flaps. "Yes, ma'am. Who told you?"

  Kalana glanced at the Alue, "Rank hath its privileges, Mersa. How are you with pattern recognition and big data analysis?"

  "It's my specialty. How big a data set are we talking about?"

  "The Ventana Family database. Here are the access codes," Kalana said while handing over the invite.

  "You want all data pertaining to Colonel Ventana?"

  "Yes. You have Trent at your disposal. I hear he's pretty good at digging around in computer systems."

  Mersa smiled. "Yes, ma'am. When do we start?"

  "I have a shuttle waiting for us at dock 12. It leaves for Tralaska in two hours. Get your gear and meet me there."

  "Yes, ma'am," the two Space Marines said in unison.

  "Dismissed. And thank you both."

  They saluted, then turned on their heels and headed to the squad bay to gather their gear, leaving Kalana to return to her musings.

  "Captain. You have an incoming message," Murphy, her AI announced from his "Office" somewhere in her skull. "It is DCI Adon."

  "Thanks, Murph. Put him through."

  A holographic image of an older human appeared above her desk. "Kalana! How's it going?"

  She smiled. Gabriel always made her smile. "Swimmingly. I leave for Tralaska in a couple hours. What's up?"

  "I heard you're here on Ventos Prime Station One, and I thought you'd like to have a drink with an old friend, but since you're leaving..."

  "I've got time. Where are you?"

  "The Twisted Tail down on the Promenade Deck."

  "Great. Be there in ten. Kalana out. Murphy, route my calls to my mobile, if you please."

  "Aye, aye, Captain. It will be good to see Gabriel again."

  "Yes, it will be good." She turned out her desk light, then headed to the door.

  ###

  Kalana walked into the bar and found Gabe seated at a far table. With him were two Space Marine privates who were of a species she was not familiar with. The two Marines stood at attention and saluted when she walked up while Gabe stood and smiled. She returned the salutes. "At ease, Marines," she said before hugging Gabe. "Hey, you."

  "Back at you, Girl Friend. Kalana, I would like you to meet Space Marine Private Nana Tor and Space Marine Private Marcus Wen. Nana and Marcus, this is Captain Kalana Grenor."

  "Hero of Meltor,” Nana said as she flapped her wings.

  "I read your paper on cephalopod amputation treatment," Marcus added. That's when Kalana noticed that both Marines had characteristics of humans, elves, Basili, and several other species she would swear could not cross-breed.

  "Can I ask you two a personal question?"

  "Here it comes," Gabe said as he took a drink from his tea.

  "Of course, Captain," Nana said.

  "Ask us anything," Marcus finished.

  "What are you?"

  "Genetically Engineered Life Forms, ma'am," they said in unison.

  "Compliments of Dr. Zoe Muntz," Gabe explained.

  The four took a seat and, after Kalana ordered a drink, Gabe explained further. "After her 'Death' at Destiny, Zoe spent years trying to perfect her cyborg strykers. Records searches show that she had an inordinately high death rate for strykers thawed from cold storage. One solution she tried was to create strykers whose DNA was specifically tailored to accept nanorobots."

  "Marcus and I were the first prototypes, Captain," Nana continued.

  "Only she got side-tracked with other problems, so she had us put into temporal stasis until she could find time to devote to us, ma'am."

  "These two were found by a Martok scout ship in a lab near the edge of the Elspeth Expanse." Gabe said.

  "Unfortunately, we were less than cordial to our rescuers," Nana said.

  "Luckily, we didn't breach the ship's hull before we were subdued."

  "You're strykers?"

  "Yes, ma'am," Marcus replied. "Like you, we have prehensile elf tails..."

  "Along with armored, laser-equipped wings, ma'am," Nana finished.

  "Are you two twins?" Kalana asked as her MD side kicked in.

  "No, ma'am, though we are continuously twin-linked."

  Kalana's jaw dropped. "Continuously?"

  Gabe nodded. "We've test them out to one astronomical unit distance."

  Kalana took a deep draw on her drink. "Wow. So, where to next for you two?"

  "Stryker Team Medical for a physical, then assignment to a team," Nana replied.

  "They are hopeful that a cure can be found..."

  "Oh, look at the time," Gabe said. "You two don't want to be late, so you better get going."

  They stood up and went to attention. "Permission to leave, Captain!" Nana said.

  Kalana stood up and returned the salute. "Dismissed. I hope we have the chance to talk again."

  "Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am," Marcus replied. The two Marines spun on their heels and double-timed it out of the ba
r.

  "Such a nice pair of kids..."

  "Gabe, what the plark are you hiding?" the captain said as she sat down and glared at him. "What cure?"

  "Huh?"

  She leaned over and looked him in the eyes. "What the hell is wrong? Or do I need to call Priscilla, your wife and mother of your two daughters?"

  He hung his head in defeat. "They're all dead."

  "Who's dead?"

  "All of the strykers Zoe created using already living beings. I'm the last one."

  "Oh, my gods. What happened?"

  "The ones that survived being taken from temporal stasis died shortly afterward. The ones like me--ones who weren't stored in stasis--lasted longer, but slowly succumbed to the condition. There's no rhyme or reason to the deaths, only questions. Doctors Irithyl and Aymar-Taggart have been able to develop a test for the problem, but not a cure."

  "You took the test?"

  He nodded.

  "How long do you have?"

  "Don't know. All we know is that there's an excellent chance I will suddenly drop dead within the next year."

  She leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "Why haven't I been tested?"

  "Because your bots aren't Zoe-brand. Yours are much more advanced as are those in Nana and Marcus."

  "Then we should inject them in you..."

  "They tried that with a volunteer. I had to put him down when he tried to consume the lab. I hope to get that image out of my head someday."

  "Does Priscilla know?"

  He nodded. "Ever see a Katalan woman go into a berserker rage? We had to buy new furniture."

  "How can you joke about this?"

  "Kalana, I died almost 300 years ago. I got a second chance to make things right, and make them I did. Every day I've been allowed to wake up is a gift from God. If it's my time, then it's my time. Until then, I am just going to keep making a difference. It's not in my nature to sit in a corner and wail about the unfairness of life."

  "You should have been a Marine." She looked at the chrono on the wall. "I've got to go. Look, keep me in the loop. I have friends in high medical places that could be of help. Anyway, every being in the multiverse owes you big time."

  "You owe me nothing. I was, and am, just doing my job."

  They both got up, and after she gave him a hug, they left through separate exits.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Somewhere near the outer rim of League space...

  The planet was one of those rare worlds where rain was a fact of life. Rainfall ranged from hurricane deluges to light sprinkles, but it never stopped... Ever. As a result, the landscape was covered with vast rain forests spanned by miles-wide rivers and tributaries. Imagine a planet whose land masses were covered--except at the poles--by jungle and Amazon-type rivers. The locals called the planet Q'Tec while the visitors just called it the Green Hell.

  In the southern hemisphere, near a river, sat two large, stone buildings around which flame-thrower-equipped robots kept the forest at bay. Next to the building--and also kept clear by flame-bots, was a small landing field where shuttles landed and took off on a regular basis.

  Tregor Skol watched out the armored windows that surrounded the observation deck as a 300-foot long serpent made its way past the transfer station. "Got anything like that on your planet, Tregor?"

  The Lingle trader turned toward the human that had joined him. "No, Peter, nothing even close. Is the whole planet like this?"

  "You mean a verdant forest populated by giants? Yes, pretty much. Low gravity and lots of sunlight will do that. Do you have your next order ready?"

  "Of course." Tregor handed him a sheet of paper. "Will this be a problem?"

  "No. I'll double-check with my contacts on Cora, but these items are not nearly as exotic as your last order."

  "Epsilon field generators aren't exotic, just limited in supply. The ones you procured are perfect, by the way."

  "Good. As always, we aim to please."

  "And please you do. I have one worry, though."

  "What now?"

  "You're running all these orders through one computer system. Do you not risk detection?"

  "My inventory system is unbreakable. I am the only one that can access it, and I'm dead, remember?"

  "Yes, there is that. Thank you for alleviating my fears."

  "Good. If I may pry: what the hell are you going to do with all this stuff?"

  "Yes, you may pry," Tregor said before turning back to the view. "Keep me posted."

  With a shake of his head, Peter Ventana walked out of the observation deck to attend to his duties, leaving the Lingle to his musings.

  ###

  The cab drove off leaving Kalana, Mersa, and Trent standing outside the gate of the Ventana Family compound in their civilian clothes and carrying a variety of electronics gear. Having visited the estate before, Kalana walked up to a terminal embedded in a pillar and pressed a button while holding the invitation up to the device's lens. Wordlessly, the gate opened as a tall, Tralaskan male walked up to greet them. "Captain Grenor, how nice to see you again," he said as he took their bags. Only when he got close did they realize how big he was.

  "Hello, Glen, it's nice to see you as well. This is my team, Sergeants Mersa and Trent."

  "How nice to meet you. We have never had the pleasure of an Alue or a Basili visiting the compound before." He led them back up the walk toward the main house. "Tell me, Sergeant Mersa, are those wings functional?"

  "Completely, Glen. I can fly, breath fire, and shoot any weapon in inventory. The only thing I can't handle is a Unicorn Fart."

  "Ah the Fart. I remember the first time I made one for Captain Grenor--I nearly torched the kitchen," he said, referring to an elven drink which required fire-proof gloves to serve.

  Kalana's two companions looked at her in awe. "What can I say? It's the national drink of Ventos Prime."

  They reached the building and were led inside to an opulent waiting room. "Lady Ventana will be with you shortly. Can I get you anything?"

  "Not right now, Glen, but thank you," Kalana replied.

  He nodded and let himself out of the room, closing the door behind him.

  "Wow, this is spectacular," Mersa noted.

  "Yeah, especially the terabit data network embedded in the walls. No Wi-Fi, only hard lines." He looked over at the room’s windows.

  "Laser eavesdropping-proof coatings," Mersa said. "I bet the walls are completely EM-shielded as well. From outside, this place must look stone-cold black to anyone trying to listen-in on the network. Very nice."

  "I'm glad you approve, Sergeants. Welcome to my humble home. As Glen told you, you two are the first non-elf aliens to ever step foot in this residence." She looked at Kalana. "You don't approve of my use of 'Alien?'"

  Kalana smiled. "With citizens who are from at least a hundred species, the word 'Alien' becomes meaningless. Anyway, wasn't it a woman who saved Tralaska from a Goranthi attack fleet? I think she was human, and her ship was crewed by over a dozen 'Alien' species."

  "I see your memory for history hasn't dimmed, Kalana. What do you need?" Suddenly, Mersa had the urge to flame a desk to generate some warmth in the room.

  "Unfettered access to your computer system, as we agreed."

  Diana nodded. "As we agreed."

  CHAPTER THREE

  "Computer, recognize Diana, authorization magma217ultimate."

  "Voice print and authorization accepted. Proceed."

  "Scan room."

  "Scanning. You and three other beings have been detected. Captain Kalana Grenor, elf; Sergeant Mersa, Basili; Sergeant Trent, Alue."

  "Give them full access to all house computer systems and data banks for... Kalana, will 48-hours do?"

  "Perfect."

  "Give them full access to all systems and data banks for 48-hours, mark."

  "Working... Access granted. Will there be anything else, mistress?"

  "No. Thank you, computer. Kalana, if you and your team will follow me, I will take
you to the data center."

  "Thank you, Lady Ventana."

  The three followed the Noblewoman to a room with a three-inch thick metal door. The door swung open at Kalana's touch. Inside was enough computer hardware to drive a large space station. "I will leave you to it. If you need anything, just ask the computer and Glen will deliver it. Have fun," she said as she headed out of the room.

  "Diana?" Kalana asked the retreating back.

  Lady Ventana stopped. "Yes, Kalana."

  "Thank you."

  Wordlessly, Diana stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

  "Captain, permission to ask a real personal question," Trent said.

  "Permission granted."

  "Was her son as big a bigot as she seems to be?"

  "No. Peter never noticed race or species. He only saw the good in people. We need to get to work."

  "On it boss," Trent said. "Mersa, I'm going to go in while you get set up."

  "Roger that. Keep the comms open."

  "Mistress?" Murphy, Kalana's AI asked over the comm channel. "May I join him?"

  "Trent?" Kalana asked. She could order him to allow the AI, but she didn't work that way with these two.

  "Love to have the company, Captain," the Alue said before turning into a ball of plasma, then disappearing into a wall. Kalana smiled as she felt Murph leave her. "You two be careful."

  "Yes, Captain," they said in unison. Part of Kalana hoped they would find something while another part hoped they didn't.

  Kalana walked over to where Mersa was setting up equipment. "That just leaves us girls. Can I give you a hand?"

  "Yes, ma'am," the Basili said. "We need to open those cases and connect the equipment to the network through that patch panel."

  The two women talked while they got their equipment running. Finally, they were ready, so Mersa activated the holographic communications system. "Trent, this is Mersa, how's it going in there?"

  A holographic image of a vast library formed at the center of the room. Trent walked into view. "Hey, Mersa, Captain. You should see this place! It's incredible. I have never seen so much data or so much bandwidth. Murph! Come say high to Mersa and the Captain.”

  A tall, dark, elf male love child of a movie star and an elven god walked over with a large book. "Hello, Mersa. Hello, mistress. Trent is correct. This place is incredible..." He stopped when he saw the two women staring at him. "Is there a problem?"