I held myself steady by holding onto a handle in the bulkhead. Everything went dark even though the lights didn't really shut off. My stomach twisted into a knot, and the darkness bled away. The engines powered up, and I knew gravity once again.
Kiloc explained to us. Three hours of acceleration, then three of deceleration to reach the next jump gate. The second jump worked out pretty much the same. Passing through darkness for a moment.
Gravity was restored once again. We sat with Kiloc in the mess hall. She said, "Six more Earth days, and we'll be at the council."
I nodded.
Exercise bike, pushups, sit-ups. I thought about doing handstands, but in the increased gravity, I figured I'd survive without them. Our ship closed in on a docking platform that was part of a bigger rotating space station. According to what I'd read, the space station was big enough and spinning fast enough to create a kind of gravity, even though largely centrifugal.
Myself, Sphinx, JenSix, and Kiloc picked up Centurian at the holding cell. We walked him through the ship and onto the space station. My heart raced as we went through the airlock but no hissing sound followed. A variety of aliens walked the halls of the station. Some reminded me of crustaceans, others were very close to humans, except with purple or green skin. A few were taller with hollow eyes, and some seemed to be canine. There were a few feline aliens too, more suited to walking on all fours. I was thankful that I didn't see any snakes.
A knife blade flashed. A squat fishlike alien, similar in appearance to a sturgeon with arms and legs, lunged at Centurian. JenSix caught the creature's wrist and blocked the knife. The alien squealed. I knew in my heart the fish was just a distraction. I spun around. Another blade danced. I grabbed this humanlike attacker with green skin. My right hand plowed into his skull. Perhaps a little too hard because my fingers were swimming in brains.
JenSix secured the fish alien. Kiloc called for authorities.
We kept Centurian close to us after that. Our quarters were built right into the detention center. He was our responsibility.
JenSix, Sphinx, Centurian, and I went before the high council.
A creature with tentacles sat behind a long bench. "Who speaks for the humans?" Well, that's not what he said. He said it in some foreign language. That's what we heard after translation.
JenSix pushed me forward. Sphinx said, "Bear speaks for us."
Just fucking great. I breathed in a full breath. "This alien represents a violation of the Razdoran, and their illegal actions on our world."
The creature replied, "What do you have to say?"
"Razdoran forces hold my entire world hostage," Centurian said. "I'm as much a victim as the humans."
The tentacle creature nodded his head and waved his appendages around. "There really isn't anything we can do. We have no proof against any specific Razdoran."
I said the next words carefully and full of strength. "I am petitioning the council to allow Earth to join your ranks."
A great clamor of howls and cheers rose up.
"State your case," the tentacled creature said.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
I paused for a split second. "Mankind is clearly intelligent enough. There's no logical reason to exclude us."
A Razdoran spoke. "Your world is not unified under one government, nor do you have star drive capability."
"But we do have music and books which your people crave. Your worlds owe us much."
There were nods and yeahs spoken in the crowd. The tentacle waving monster shouted, "No, we have rules."
"You'll bend the rules this time," I said in my loud voice.
The Razdoran laughed.
Centurian leaned in close to me. "Do you even realize what you're doing?"
I said, "Erg?"
"Even if you succeed..."
I turned back to face the amphitheater of aliens. I spoke calmly into the microphone. "We will cut you off. We will constantly develop new forms of encryption, and we will stop you from stealing from us."
The crowd upgraded to a great roar. The tentacle creature jumped up and down.
"We will tell our people of this Council of Worlds, and we will stop at nothing to prevent your theft of our resources," I said into the mic. I didn't know if anyone heard as chaos spread through the room.
The tentacle monster screeched a high pitched wail. The room quieted. He, if the tentacle thing could be called a he, said "Humans, leave us. We have much to discuss."
We grabbed Centurian and stepped out of the chamber. Centurian said, "You idiot. If you join the council, the Razdorans will be free to walk around on Earth. They will be forever interested in your resources. You're going to have a war on your hands."
"He's right," Sphinx said.
"It's all I could think of," I said. "Did you have a better idea?"
"Sadly, no."
We made it back to our quarters. The centrifugal gravity on the space station was about half Earth's gravity, so doing sit-ups and pushups was really not an option. The computer systems were all in a foreign language I didn't know. My phone didn't have even a hint of signal. I was almost out of books on it myself.
I took a nice nap. The intercom woke me. "Humans, return to the council chambers."
Sphinx grabbed my arm. "I'll go with you. JenSix is going to watch Centurian."
We walked to the Council of Worlds. The hall was empty, except for the tentacle waving alien. He spoke, "You're sure this is what you want?"
"Yes, positive," I said
He held out a memory stick that would fit in a Chor'Tan faster than light computer. "These are our laws, and to a lesser degree, customs of each world in our group."
Sphinx pushed forward. "Don't give it to Bear. He'll erase it and load porn on it."
"I would not!" I said.
The alien beast chuckled. "There is also a design for an interstellar capable drive on there. That is key to including you in our group."
"What's the catch?" I asked.
"Catch?"
"Whatever it is that you're not telling us."
"It's very possible the Razdorans are going to become keenly interested in your world now."
"Yes, Bear's an idiot," Sphinx said.
I leaned into Sphinx's ear and whispered, "Think of all the alien booze. Chor'Tan Ale can't be the only booze aliens make."
"Maybe Bear's not so dumb."
Soon enough we were heading home. Two jump gates, then an in system trip to Earth. We used a Chor'Tan re-entry vehicle. Landed right on the Phoenix base. Nancy was waiting for us. She had a burning glare in her eyes. "What did you do?" She asked.
"They didn't tell you?" I asked.
"They said you were bringing back a memory disk."
"A memory disk with a design for an interstellar drive on it. I think we just have to build it."
"Shit."
"It's not that bad."
Nancy shook her head. "The Razdorans are going to be crawling all over this world."
"Tell me where Sam is, old woman." No, I did not fucking say that to Nancy. I sent Sam a text on my now functioning phone. She texted me back. It was good.
We told everybody about the Council of Worlds, and the shit really hit the fan.
Links to Other Books and my Author Page:
www.facebook.com/GCPWriter/ Facebook Author Page
Juxta, Magi https://www.amazon.com/Juxta-Magi-Geoffrey-C-Porter-ebook/dp/B00JXQ8NC4/
The Wither Chronicles https://www.amazon.com/Wither-Chronicles-Book-Geoffrey-Porter-ebook/dp/B00IJIOKQU/
RAECE Genesis https://www.amazon.com/R-E-C-E-Genesis-Geoffrey-Porter-ebook/dp/B00H83NABI/
Author Bio
Geoff spent hundreds of afternoons during his formative years dueling over a hot box of dice playing tabletop wargames such as Titan and Axis&Allies, games with strong military components and fantasy elements.
He taught himself to program computers as a young pup. The first software Geoff developed professionally was a Chemical Weapons A
ttack Simulator for the USAF. He did it in Visual Basic 3.0 in Win3.11, on a 386SX16 processor. Since then he has built websites professionally and browser based multiplayer kingdom games.
Geoff started writing Thanksgiving of 2003. He penned his first novel between Thanksgiving and Christmas that year. He had high hopes for it of course, but errors plagued his first draft. He wrote an epic fantasy next, Juxta, Magi. Then he crafted a military sci-fi, R.A.E.C.E. Genesis.
He had no clue how to get published. He didn't know how to fix all the errors in his manuscripts. It kind of hit him like lightning one day. Sinclair Community College might have an English class he could take.
He discovered English Composition I&II, Fiction Writing, Advanced Fiction Writing, Novel Writing, Horror Fiction, and the most awesome class ever, Text Editing. Geoff took classes with Ed Davis and Tim Waggoner. He'd still be taking classes if Ed had not retired. He may take more classes.
Geoff has written eight full length novels and a novella. Most of them were self published. They were largely never sent to publishers, and he's hoping to change his methods. He penned over fifty short stories. Fifteen of his shorts have been published.
For five years Geoff ran an eZine, Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, and being an editor, having a slush pile to go through, has helped him grow as a writer. Possibly as much or more than all the classes he took. He quit mostly because he read one too many Man-Eats-Own-Leg stories.
Codename: Bear II: Secret Agent (Codename Universe Book 2) Page 21
