Forever Series 5: The Forever Alliance

by Craig Robertson

  ALSO BY CRAIG A. ROBERTSON

  The Forever Life

  Book 1 of The Forever Series

  The Forever Enemy

  Book 2 of The Forever Series

  The Forever Fight

  Book 3 of The Forever Series

  The Forever Quest

  Book 4 of The Forever Series

  The Corporate Virus

  The InnerGlow Effect

  WRITE NOW!

  The Prisoner of NaNoWriMo

  Time Diving

  Anon Time

  THE FOREVER ALLIANCE

  BOOK FIVE OF THE FOREVER SERIES

  by Craig Robertson

  There Is Hope, But First You Must Find It

  Imagine-It Publishing

  El Dorado Hills, CA

  Copyright 2017 Craig Robertson

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the author.

  ISBN: 978-0-9973073-7-5 (Paperback)

  978-0-9973073-8-2 (E-Book)

  Cover art and design by Starla Huchton

  Available at http://www.designedbystarla.com

  Editing and Formatting services by Polgarus Studio

  Available at http://www.polgarusstudio.com

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to Spain.

  Mi cuerpo nació en los EEUU,

  pero mi alma brotó en Espana.

  No puedo agradecer te bastante,

  paiz de mi corazón.

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FORTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  TWENTY-NINE

  THIRTY

  THIRTY-ONE

  THIRTY-TWO

  THIRTY-THREE

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THIRTY-FIVE

  THIRTY-SIX

  List of Main Characters and Places

  Shameless Self-Promotion

  Note: Glossary of Terms Is Located at the End of the Book

  PROLOGUE

  “It has been so long since I’ve tasted the soul of a mortal. I almost forgot the bliss it brings. I must know this again. We must know this once again.”

  “Eas-el, there was a time for that, and it has passed. We now feed on the infinite light. It is our way. It is a better way.” Grees-el understood his brother’s words, but he could not share in them.

  “The infinite light nourishes our being, but not our passion. When did we lose the will to enjoy ourselves? Why did we lose the drive to know full bliss?”

  “The way of bliss, as you describe them, inevitably lead to struggle, to fighting, to annihilation. We cannot afford more loss. We must be fulfilled within ourselves and resist the temptation to destroy. You know these things, brother. Why do you speak of that which is forbidden?”

  “The forbidden? Who can forbid the Last Nightmare? The power to do such an act not only does not exist, it is inconceivable. If we want a thing, we take it. If we think of a thing, it becomes ours to do with as we please. You know that, brother.”

  “In the time of the First Universe, we were many, and we were voracious. By the time the Fourth Universe dissolved into chaos, we were few, but we remained insatiable. We learned nothing. After the Twelfth Universe, we live well—the paltry few who remain. Would you see the Last Nightmare disappear for all eternity?”

  “If it pleased me, yes.”

  “The Neverwhere will tear itself apart at an ever-increasing rate if your lust continues. If you act to enter a new universe, the destruction here will quicken. Where will we go after obliterating the Thirteenth Universe if this place is not here to return to?”

  “There are infinitely many universes for us to burden with our existence. Why do you worry as if you are an old lady?”

  “An old lady.” Grees-el repeated the words in his being, feeling them, tasting them. “I have not thought of old women in a very long time. Surely they are all gone by now.”

  “An old lady.” Grees-el repeated the words in his being, feeling them, tasting them. “I have not thought of old women in a very long time. Surely they are all gone by now.”

  “No, brother, one remains. She is a Last Nightmare named Grees-el of the Demarcation Clan.”

  “Humor? I would not have thought it possible. Two ancient concepts in one day. You are a beast of nostalgia, Eas-el.”

  “No. I am an eternal beast who hungers for more. I would welcome oblivion over the passive death the Infinite Light offers me.”

  “You cannot act alone. We must stand together as we always have. It is the only way.”

  “Perhaps we must remain as one. I can, however, pull the Last Nightmare off their funeral slabs and drag them into action. This you know I can do.”

  “No, brother, this I know you will do. As surely as I see the future, I see the end of the Last Nightmare.”

  “Then let us make it one damnation of a good party.”

  ONE

  We were settling in nicely on Azsuram. Kayla had given birth to our son. Jon the fifty second or something. Okay, she insisted my first honest to goodness son be named junior. By then, there had been Jonathan Ryan IIs, IIIs, and IVs, and some number fives were threatening to be born soon. I groused about what number we should even choose. I wanted no part in the legacy thing, but happy wife happy life and all, so I went along with it. I suggested Jon the tenth, so we’d get there first and stick a flag in the kid or something. That suggestion didn’t make her smile.

  After a significant number of angry looks, we settled on Jon Ryan III. She let me keep JJ as second in my lineage. So, Jon III it was. Anyway, after my second battle with the Berrillians, I was anxious to go home and decompress. Warring against hopeless odds again and again was draining my batteries, probably literally. The colony of Azsuram, a small nation by then, was doing spectacularly. They didn’t need my help anymore, which was fine by me. I was more than okay with being a figurehead. I’d go to the occasional meeting or ribbon cutting, say profound words, and fish a lot.

  And that’s what we did for a few years. Then I noticed a change in my dear sweet wife. Whereas before she was a vision of beauty and a powerhouse of a person, she became a bit less dynamic. Not sure if that’s the right word, but something in her pretty little head was off. Of course, when I’d hint at it or even obliquely refer to it, she’d deny it vehemently. She insisted that everything was slightly north of perfect. Matters couldn’t be better, given the laws of physics. I kept flashing back on Shakespeare’s line in Hamlet. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

  It took me a month of focused attacks on the castle walls of her denial, but she finally fessed up to her mood malady. She felt out of place. What’s more, Kayla wasn’t super excited about raising our human children in a Kaljaxian society. She didn’t dislike them or anything. She just wanted a more normal upbringing for our kids. She really landed a sucker punch when she mentioned she wanted to see our daughter in a prom dress and o
ur son steal my beer when he got to high school. Ouch. I stole my dad’s beer in high school. It was a rite of passage as far as I was concerned. Crap, here I was denying my infant son the chance to commit petty larceny and get drunk with his football teammates. I was a bad father. Heck, I was a bad human.

  It did strike me as odd that she’d had such similar experiences growing up … wherever she and her brother Karnean had grown up. When I asked about it, she informed me that I was missing the point. She’d read about American traditions. She’d also endured—her word not mine—my telling and retelling of endless tales from my misspent youth. She’d come to want those same things for our kids. I think that was a compliment, but I wasn’t sure.

  I pressed her. Since Middle America was gone—on account of being sucked up by Jupiter—where did she want to move? Her home world? The worldship fleet? Middle Earth right where it bordered the Land of Oz? The last comment got me three nights of sleep in my own room, but it was worth it. Hey, when the muse delivered, I had to deliver too.

  She wasn’t sure, as it turned out. She just knew it wasn’t Azsuram. I think Azsuram was my world, mine and Sapale’s. She found it hard to compete with the dead legend. She didn’t have to, but I didn’t think she could help it. She left it to me to decide what would be best. That made it a simple assignment. All I had to do was guess what she was thinking and, in turn, feel that way myself. Same revolver to my head, just different bullets.

  I favored relocating to the worldfleet, which suggested to me that as the most incorrect answer. Since it had been my first thought, and it was my preferred choice, that made it suspect. Plus, moving to the worldfleet wasn’t just a decision, it was a Jon decision. Those were the least SNAG decisions possible, and always suspect. Oh, sorry. Sensitive New Age Guy. Some would erroneously accuse me of not being the sensitive empathetic type.

  If I couldn’t choose the worldfleet, my second choice would be Azsuram, with frequent visits to the worldfleet. Wrong answer. I’d placed my desires on my list. I couldn’t very well choose where she grew up, since I’d never been there and she rarely spoke of it. Ah-ha. That had to be the best, least Jon-lethal answer. So, I told Kayla I wanted to raise our family on Chorum, the place she most identified as her family home world. Outstanding response. Not only did she not kill me, but she actually stroked my cheek and told me I was the sweetest man she’d even met. Score one for Team Dude.

  Even though she knew her home world was an option, she had sort of figured I’d choose an American worldship, so she came around to that way of thinking. But I was still as sweetest as concentrated honey for wanting to take her home.

  So, we were moving to floating America. I was down with that. I contacted President Gore and let her know our desire. She was more than happy to help. She arranged for a much larger than normal residence near the capital. She assigned my great-grandson Heath to be my official full-time aide. Since Amanda and he had left office, he worked as a lobbyist. The kid was ecstatic to have a real, honest job again. It sounded to me like he’d have the easiest job in the US government, which meant I could torture him about what a slacker he was with a clear conscious. My life just kept getting better.

  Leaving the place I’d made my home was just as hard as I thought it would be. My extended family numbered in the hundreds, and to be honest, leaving JJ was the hardest of all. We were as close as a father and son could be. He was head of the Council of Elders, a grandfather, and as good a man as I’d ever met. I could visit anytime I wanted, but we both knew my leaving was a big step and that a significant separation loomed in the future.

  “Are you sure you have to go?” he asked for the tenth time.

  “Yeah. You have a brood’s-mate. You know as well as I do that when they speak, we listen. When they direct, we follow.”

  “Roger that,” he said with a frown. “But I’m going to miss you like I’d miss oxygen. Like I’d miss beer.”

  “Yo,” I responded, “oxygen, okay, but don’t joke about beer.”

  We laughed. I wished for the millionth time I had some form of communication that didn’t involve me climbing in my vortex and folding halfway across existence just to keep in touch. I’d asked Kymee about such a radio before, but he always shrugged and changed the subject. Either their technology didn’t have such a device, or he didn’t want to give it to me. It was a shame either way. It would have been nice to text JJ or holo the grandkids casually.

  Toño was the only loose end left on Azsuram. He’d been there as long as I had, longer if you counted the time I spent searching for the alternate timeline version of me. I let him know he was free to stay or come with us, whatever he preferred. I also gave him the option of emigrating later, since I’d be returning to Azsuram fairly often. He took a few weeks to decide, but in the end, he chose to come along. He felt perfectly at home on Azsuram, but knew he was no longer mission critical for the colony. Several scientists and physicians from Kaljax had taken over that role. I suspect Toño wanted to live among his people again for the first time in nearly a century.

  Gallenda was the cutest toddler and Jon III still a wrinkly prune when I loaded up the cube and moved us to Exeter. I took Shearwater, including the AIs, Al and Lily. I left JJ my original ship, Ark 1. It wasn’t like he could use it to visit, but it at least afforded him the option of space travel. Plus, it was his mother and my home for a long time, so it would remind him of us. He also appreciated being the only guy on Azsuram with his own personal, bitching ride. I had my boy’s back.

  Heath met us as soon as we materialized on my private landing pad. He had a team of moving men to help unload our stuff. It was so weird. I hadn’t “moved” in two centuries. I’d traveled, relocated, and been shanghaied, but I hadn’t moved my household since I was a fighter pilot, dragging my ex around the now defunct globe. There they stood, burly guys in bib overalls. Nothing had changed. If I didn’t know I was inside an asteroid speeding along at sixty thousand kilometers per hour, I’d have sworn I was back on Earth.

  Our place was very nice, better than Alexis Gore had led me to believe. It was a two-story colonial that had a lawn and veranda. Several large oak trees gave shade from the purely artificial light sources. The inside was just as nice, well-appointed with modern furniture, hardwood floors, and a deluxe kitchen. I had to wonder what high-ranking government official now hated my guts for kicking him and his family out of such a prized piece of real estate.

  Kayla was totally impressed. As someone who’d spent most of her life in space, such quarters must have seemed unbelievable. I did notice she didn’t say anything about what would we do with all the space. No, her eyes were like a rich kid’s on Christmas morning. She made me promise to bring Karnean to visit as soon as we were settled in. She wanted to impress her big brother.

  After we’d set up the house, I had to decide what I’d do with myself. Toño hooked up with Carlos immediately, and the two android scientists were in hog heaven working together. I had no idea what they were working on, but they applied themselves to it like newlyweds to their honeymoon. I met with all my old friends—Amanda, Bin Li, and many others. They all either offered me a job or said they’d arrange whatever I wanted. That was nice, but it didn’t help me decide what exactly I wanted to do.

  Politics was out. I never liked it in the first place. All my experiences to date only convinced me it wasn’t the life for me. I was still a general in what succeeded the USAF, but the military held no fascination for me. If there was fighting to be done, I’d be in the vanguard, so being in uniform only promised to weigh me down with administrative duties and silly ceremonies. Those were as bad a politics. I could do tours or give lectures, but that sounded like a prison sentence, not a career. Academia? Maybe. I had a Ph.D. in physics. I also knew more about interspecies relationships than any human. It was a possibility, but it didn’t light my fire, so to speak.

  But there was no hurry. I could handle as much downtime as the universe was likely to give me. I’d worked, fought, and str
uggled almost nonstop for the last two centuries. For the near term, I was content to be a dad and a husband. I actually liked doing minor home repairs. And mowing the lawn? Dude, I loved it. It was such a treat to be so darn normal. A cold beer after yard work on a warm Saturday afternoon was brand new to me.

  A dirty secret revealed was that I looked forward to attending live sporting events, especially my beloved football. Sure, I could watch a million games broadcast live or on holo. But there was nothing like sitting in the bleachers with a beer in one hand and my arm around Kayla, watching huge sweaty men crash into one another. That would never get old. Least one conclude my life was too centered on beer, let me say this: get over yourself.

  Alexis called me often and invited me to important meetings. She truly valued my input. She eventually offered me a cabinet-level position, but I turned her down. Too political. She ended up appointing me her Alien Affairs Advisor. That was a job I could do. I answered only to her, and I worked when I wanted to. She turned out to be a good boss. She was thoughtful, kind, and she was an excellent leader. Like Harry Truman or Teddy Roosevelt, she knew what it was to lead and knew how important leadership was to the general population. Times were hard, and the external threats were all too real. The people needed someone to look up to, and that person deserved their trust.

  So, a couple hundred years into my goofy life, I became conventional. I had a wife, a steady job with an office, kids to bounce on my knees, and a lawn to mow. I felt like the dad in all those mid twentieth-century sitcoms I watched on long space flights. I was this close to buying a cardigan sweater. Stand aside, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Ryan was slipping onto your bench.