by M. D. Cooper
Sabrina chimed in.
The crew began talking excitedly about packing up and going, Nance almost jumping for joy, but while they spoke, an uncomfortable feeling settled in the pit of Jessica’s stomach.
“I don’t know if I can go,” she said softly.
Trevor was beside her, and seemed to be the only one to hear her utterance. “What do you mean, you can’t go,” he asked.
“We’re not done here,” Jessica replied. “This system is far from stable. If we go now, some new despot is going to rise up in no time and take over again. You saw how happy these people were to have a real leader who cares about them,” Jessica said. “I owe it to them not to show how good it can be, and then snatch it away.”
“You can’t be serious,” Cargo asked, having overheard Jessica. “You’ve wanted to get back to New Canaan for years. Now we have the express road home and you don’t want to take it?”
“I want to,” Jessica said. “But I don’t think I can. Besides, it’s a big risk. If we rush out there with Sabrina, who’s to say that we can use the gate in time. They’ll see the ship for sure. Then the jig will be up too.”
“Yeah,” Nance said, “But so what? If we leave through a jump gate, it’s not like they can follow. We’ll be out. Home free.”
“They’ll see us approaching,” Finaeus cautioned. “If they spot Sabrina, they’re not just going to let us come on over and use the gate.”
“And then what?” Jessica asked. “Then all of Perseus knows we were here. What if we can’t get the gate to work for us before it hits the planet. It’s not like we can just walk up to it and dial home, right Finaeus?”
Finaeus-Perina nodded slowly. “It’s true. They’ll use different control interfaces. It might take some time before I could make it work for us.”
“Don’t you want to try, Jessica?” Cheeky asked.
“I do,” Jessica said. “I have a lot of friends from the Intrepid that I haven’t seen in years. I miss Tanis terribly, but we have a real chance to do some good here in Perseus. We can help these people establish a good government and prosper. We’ve already liberated the AIs here on The Reach, and we can do the rest of the stations in the system too. They can be a beacon for other AIs on the Stillwater passage.”
She looked at each of the crewmembers, one after another, imploring them to understand.
“Look, if you all want to go. I understand. Tanis and Sera need Finaeus. Getting him back there as soon as possible is a good thing. But I have to stay.”
“Well if you stay, I stay,” Trevor said. “I’m in all this for you, after all.”
“This is asinine!” Cheeky exclaimed. “We’re not splitting up. No way, no how.”
Oria suggested.
“OK, do that,” Jessica replied. “But even if we do secure it, I’m not leaving till we have a new government in place. For once, we’re going to clean a system up, rather than fuck it up.”
There were slow nods from the rest of the crew, though Nance appeared to be exceedingly reticent in her gesture of acquiescence.
The crew didn’t speak much as they watched the minutes tick by. Jessica felt guilty that she’d strong-armed the crew into staying, but Iris reassured her that it had been the right call.
Forty-five minutes later, the ring came to life and the first of the RHY ships disappeared through it, followed by another two a minute later, but the last pair hung back.
Jessica blew out a long breath. “Tell them to turn back.”
No one spoke as the holoprojection showed the tugs breaking and changing vector to return to The Reach. The final two RHY ships stayed with the ring until it was only five thousand kilometers from Seaway’s roiling cloud tops. Then they too passed through the ring minutes before it fell into the planet.
“It’ll explode in about seven minutes,” Finaeus-Perina said. “I wonder if they managed to use the planet’s gravity to help counteract the nebula, or if they just ended up on the far side of the galaxy….”
“Shit,” Cheeky muttered. “I hadn’t thought of that. Do you think they knew what the nebula would do to their trajectory?”
“I rather hope they didn’t,” Nance replied crossly.
“Doesn’t matter,” Cargo replied with a long sigh. “It’s gone now. I’m going to go catch some sack.”
Cheeky looked around at the team and gave a wan smile. “Well, on the bright side, not a single person died on this excursion.”
“Thank the stars for small miracles,” Jessica replied.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
STELLAR DATE: 01.12.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Sabrina
REGION: Departing Perry System, Stillwater Nebula, Perseus Arm
Eight months later…
Jessica sat in Sabrina’s rear observation lounge, watching the star at the center of the Perry System dwindle to just another point of light; it’s feeble glow pushing against the dense clouds surrounding it, little more than just another mote, swimming in the glow of the Stillwater Nebula.
Iris said with a laugh.
Jessica replied then fell silent once more.
Iris spoke up after a moment.
Jessica nodded, that thought leading her to another.
The door slid open and Trevor entered. “About to hit the dark layer. You want to come to the bridge?”
Jessica shook her head. “Not this time, I want to watch it till it’s gone.”
Trevor sat beside Jessica and wrapped an arm around her. “I liked it there. Pretty good place, considering our rocky start.”
“Pretty good place,” Jessica agreed. “It’s surprising how—out here at the far end of nowhere—we’re meeting so many good people…but we’re in Orion space. They’re supposed to be the enemy.”
“You know how it is, Jess, these people don’t even know that there’s a war brewing. They’re decades from the front lines. Stars, places like the Perry System have probably never even seen an OFA representative come through.”
“And let’s hope they never do,” Jessica replied.
“I wonder what Derrick will think when he comes to?” Trevor asked.
Jessica chuckled softly. “Well, that light-hugger was making a fifty-year run. After his nap, nothing he does will matter anymore.”
“What are the chances the captain of that freighter is going to dump Derrick in a prison when he gets out there?”
Jessica shrugged. “Feels fifty-fifty to me, but I guess we’ll never know.”
“Guess not,” Trevor replied.
The pair sat and watched the view out of the window on the back of the ship until Sabrina transitioned and there was nothing but darkness beyond the ship.
“You game for a round of Snark?” Trevor asked after a few minutes of silence. “I picked up a new variant back on The Reach.”
Jessica looked up into his large, expressive eyes and nodded. “Sure. Might as well spank you again.”
“Well, hey, if spanking is what you want to get up to…”
“Cards first,” Jessica replied with a wink. “Then we’ll see how things go.”
THANK YOU
If you’ve enjoyed reading The Toll Road Between the Stars, a review on Amazon.com and/or goodreads.com would be greatly appreciated.
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M. D. Cooper
THE BOOKS OF AEON 14
Keep up to date with what is releasing in Aeon 14 with the free Aeon 14 Reading Guide.
The Intrepid Saga
- Book 1: Outsystem
- Book 2: A Path in the Darkness
- Book 3: Building Victoria
- The Intrepid Saga Omnibus – Also contains Destiny Lost, book 1 of the Orion War series
- Destiny Rising – Special Author’s Extended Edition comprised of both Outsystem and A Path in the Darkness with over 100 pages of new content.
The Orion War
- Book 1: Destiny Lost
- Tales of the Orion War: Set the Galaxy on Fire
- Book 2: New Canaan
- Book 3: Orion Rising
- Tales of the Orion War: Ignite the Stars Within (Winter 2018)
- Tales of the Orion War: Burn the Galaxy to Ash (Spring 2018)
- Book 4: The Scipio Alliance
- Many more following
Perilous Alliance (Expanded Orion War - with Chris J. Pike)
- Book 1: Close Proximity
- Book 2: Strike Vector
- Book 3: Collision Course
Rika’s Marauders (Age of the Orion War)
- Prequel: Rika Mechanized
- Book 1: Rika Outcast
- Book 2: Rika Redeemed
- Book 3: Rika Triumphant (Jan 2018)
Perseus Gate (Age of the Orion War)
- Episode 1: The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star
- Episode 2: The World at the Edge of Space
- Episode 3: The Dance on the Moons of Serenity
- Episode 4: The Last Bastion of Star City
- Episode 5: The Toll Road Between the Stars
- Episode 6: The Final Stroll on Perseus’s Arm
The Warlord (Before the Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: The Woman Without a Country
- Book 2: The Woman Who Seized an Empire
- Book 3: The Woman Who Lost Everything (2018)
The Sentience Wars: Origins (With James S. Aaron)
- Book 1: Lyssa’s Dream
- Book 2: Lyssa’s Run
- Book 3: Lyssa’s Flame (Jan 2018)
Tanis Richards: Origins
- Prequel: Storming the Norse Wind (In At the Helm Volume 3)
- Book 1: Shore Leave (June 2018)
The Sol Dissolution
- The 242 - Venusian Uprising (In The Expanding Universe 2 anthology)
- The 242 - Assault on Tarja (In The Expanding Universe 3 anthology – coming Dec 2017)
The Delta Team Chronicles (Expanded Orion War)
- A "Simple" Kidnapping (Pew! Pew! Volume 1)
- The Disknee World (Pew! Pew! Volume 2)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Cooper likes to think of himself as a jack-of-all-trades (and hopes to become master of a few). When not writing, he can be found writing software, working in his shop at his latest carpentry project, or likely reading a book.
He shares his home with a precocious young girl, his wonderful wife (who also writes), two cats, a never-ending list of things he would like to build, and ideas…
Find out what’s coming next at http://www.aeon14.com
