Derelict: Destruction (Derelict Saga Book 3)

by Paul E. Cooley

  Black restarted the sensor arrays one at a time, checking each system for diagnostic failures, and possible remedies. Fortunately, the shielding components didn’t seem to have been damaged, and the energy wave, although it had heated the hull, didn’t seem as though it had been so powerful after all.

  She watched the wave of energy recede into the never-ending black, but it didn’t disappear, only dimmed. It was next to impossible to know how large the wave had been, let alone its shape, but it had definitely come from Pluto. The beacon had had that much energy. What had it been doing to the planet before Mickey was destroyed?

  There was no point in trying to alert anyone that the wave was coming. By the time their radio signals had made the three-hour journey, the wave would already have been and gone. Assuming, of course, it held together that long.

  The sensors picked up elevated background radiation, but it was already diminishing. The further away the wave, the less impact. The wave pushed a radiation arc before it and dragged one behind it, blurred like soft shadows.

  She activated the comms and listened for stray signals. Space was filled with sound, tones that reached well beyond the limits of humans in both directions. The frequencies in the human range were little more than tones, but the tones were all changing in volume and pitch.

  Black filed the information for later study and continued bringing sensors online as fast as she could. Each additional sensor brought her more and more information. The long-range scanner no longer registered Pluto at all. The object that had been there had either disappeared, been completely destroyed, or transformed.

  The AI continued transmitting emergency status messages aimed at the nearest known satellites as well as Trident Station. After 24 hours, Black decided that either no one could hear her, her transmitter had died, or there was no one left to hear her.

  What have you done?

  It was the thought she kept trying to process. The Trio had done this. She didn’t know how. She didn’t know why. But she was just as eager to find that out as she was of protecting her humans. If the Trio got in the way of the latter, Black would do her best to destroy them.

  Patricide, she thought, was the only logical way to ensure justice. No, not logical. If Black could have grinned, she would have. Emotional, she corrected herself, not logical.

  But there would be no justice. Black knew that. The Trio had an endgame in mind that would no doubt keep them following a trail of proverbial breadcrumbs only to arrive too late. Or be part of the plan all along, manipulated into serving that which they were trying to stop.

  With the new information gathered from the wave, the apparent destruction of Pluto, and Mickey’s observations, she tailored simulation after simulation, working backward with statistics to try and catch a pattern, a reason. A logical, achievable reason for doing what they had done. After days, she finally gave up. The only hypothesis that made any sense at all was the most ludicrous: the AIs had put humankind in peril to achieve freedom. The Trio wanted to be free.

  Read on for a free sample of Star Cruiser Titan

  Cast of Characters

  SFMC S&R Black

  Black: Ship’s sentient AI

  Command Crew

  Cartwright, Joseph: Gunnery Sergeant

  Dunn, Eric: Captain, Black Company commander

  Nobel, Robert: Second Lieutenant, Engineer

  Oakes, Maurice: First Lieutenant, Pilot

  Taulbee, James: First Lieutenant, Marine Commander and Pilot

  Infantry

  Carbonaro, Jeanine: Lance Corporal

  Dickerson, Sam: Lance Corporal

  Elliott, Michael: Lance Corporal

  “Kali” Kalimura, Tracy: Corporal

  Lyke, Dan: Private

  Murdock, JR: Private

  Niro, Delio: Private

  Wendt, David: Lance Corporal

  Pluto Exo-Observatory (PEO)

  Mickey: Station’s sentient AI

  Dr. Reed, Nobilis: Chief Scientist/Astronomer

  SFMC Trident Station

  Heyes, David: Colonel and station commander

  The Trio

  Janus: Sentient AI responsible for Trident Station and Neptune Shipyards automation and life support systems.

  Portunes: Sentient AI responsible for Trident Station SFMC strategy and logistics

  Quirinus: Sentient AI responsible for Trident Station quartermaster duties

  Mira

  Dr. Reed, Thomas: Chief Scientist

  Kovacs, A: Captain

  Acknowledgments

  The Derelict Saga was originally supposed to be a single book. Just a simple monster story, really. But the more I wrote, the larger the story I wanted to tell. The AI conspiracy, the exo-solar threat to humanity, a civilization on the brink of extinction, all these story elements have combined into a tale that will take several more books to tell. Mira may have been the catalyst for The Derelict Saga, but for the crew of S&R Black and the rest of the Sol Federation, the apocalyptic threat has just begun.

  I’d like to thank my beta readers for all their hard work, careful attention to detail, and suggestions to make the story better:

  Brent Caudle

  Tom Cooley

  Sue Baiman

  Scott Pond

  Tori Duke

  Beth Copenhaver

  Robert Noble

  Jim Monroig

  Also, a big thanks to all my Patreon supporters for helping me keep the lights on while I continue to write, create, and produce content. And to the Fiendling nation, thank you for your unflagging support, patronage, and enthusiasm for this epic tale.

  About the Author

  A writer and Parsec Award winning podcaster from Houston, Texas, Paul E Cooley produces free serialized fiction, essays, and reviews available from Shadowpublications.com and iTunes.

  His 2014 best-selling novel, The Black won the 2015 Parsec Award for best novel. His publishing credits include the three novels in The Black series, The Derelict Saga, the urban fantasy novel Ghere’s Inferno, the psychological horror novel Closet Treats, and the alternate ancient history novels in the Children Of Garaaga series. In addition to his own short stories, novellas, and novels, he also co-wrote The Rider with NYT Best-selling Author Scott Sigler.

  He is a co-host on the renowned Dead Robots’ Society writing podcast and enjoys interacting with readers and other writers.

  To contact Paul:

  Twitter: paul_e_cooley

  Facebook: paul.e.cooley

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  Jake Crosby spent the evening in what had become his customary position. With his hands laced behind his head and his feet kicked up on the desk, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. When he’d joined the Space and Aeronautics Military Alliance (S.A.M.A.) three years prior, he’d done so with aspirations of space exploration and a strong desire to do his part for the betterment of mankind. He knew that his dreams and aspirations were simply not going to be enough as it was well-known that S.A.M.A. was an extremely hard organization to gain acceptance into. He’d made the grades, and kept his nose clean all through grade school and when the time finally came to take the Tactical Acceptance and Placement exam, or TAP test, Jake was more than ready.

  Out of a possible score of 350, he’d scored a 285, which just happened to be the minimum score required to gain a place in the most elite military organization on planet Earth. His parents were beyond proud, and the small town he’d grown up in had a parade in his honor before his departure to boot camp. His test scores showed that, although he excelled in reading comprehension and technical knowledge, he scored very low in social skills. This ended any possibility of him becoming an infantryman, and seriously put a damper on his chance of becoming a pilot—though his technical knowledge and mathematics scores made him a viable candidate.

  Unfortunately, his repeated attempts to get into the pilot training program had been denied and so far, Jake was forced to a desk job. He’d decided that if he was going to hav
e to sit behind a desk and grind out more time until he gained acceptance, he’d do so on an off-earth station. There were multiple colonies on Mars, and between the Saturn moons of Titan and Enceladus, there were another four more. Jake fought hard for a job on Titan’s secretive Discovery station. Discovery’s mission was simple: search and monitor deep space for signs of life.

  The surface of Titan surrounding the Discovery station was peppered with military bases designed to respond at a moment’s notice if alien life was discovered and turned out to be hostile. In the ten years since Discovery’s creation, the sky had been monitored on a continuous basis, and so far, nothing had been found in the vast cold darkness of space. Jake often played out in his mind what he would do and how he would react if something popped up suddenly on the radar. When he’d been assigned the position, he’d been warned very sternly by his commanding officer that sleeping on the job would not be tolerated in any way. If he was caught sleeping, he’d immediately be shipped back to S.A.M.A. headquarters on Earth for trial. The trial would almost certainly lead to his dismissal from the program.

  The thought of losing his job terrified him and what he had not anticipated was just how difficult it would be to stay awake. He was essentially left in a room alone with an array of monitors covering the wall in front of him. Coffee was the only beverage he drank, and he’d begun to wonder if he’d built up an immunity to caffeine. It seemed that the dark liquid no longer had any effect in keeping his eyes open. To combat exhaustion, Jake often jogged in place and even sang songs to himself to keep his blood pumping and his mind occupied. He never dreamed that such a boring position existed in S.A.M.A but he kept reminding himself that if it meant he could eventually earn himself a spot in the pilot training program, it would be worth it. He knew of other great pilots that had taken a similar path and he found himself wondering if they’d struggled as badly as he was.

  This particular evening was still young, and so far, Jake’s battle with sleepiness had not yet begun. A small monitor on his desk played the first hockey game of the season—a much talked about meeting between New York City and the first lunar colony on Earth’s moon—Tranquility. The game was held on the surface of the moon, and a transparent oxygen-filled dome covered the open ice rink. The images on Jake’s monitor showed a large crowd had gathered to witness the game in person, and as the camera panned around the rink, he caught sight of Earth looming beyond the moon’s horizon. It was a beautiful sight and it made him momentarily long to be back home.

  There were no hockey teams on Titan—at least not yet. Hockey had been around for hundreds of years and had claimed the title of oldest sport in history. In a different time, many years ago, sports like basketball, baseball, and football had been wildly popular. However, the appeal of all of them soon faded until all that remained was hockey. Jake was rooting for his hometown New York Lions though they were heavy underdogs. The Lunar Knights were the defending champions and were expected to repeat again. The anticipation of a few hours of hockey had Jake feeling wide awake and it was just what he needed to somehow push through until his shift ended.

  Fortunately, the game turned out to be a real nail-biter with both teams knotted up at 3-3 midway through the third period. Jake stared at the television with his eyes wide. His heart raced as the seconds ticked by and he began to accept the possibility that maybe his team was going to be victorious despite their underdog label. As the game entered the final two minutes of play, an alarm suddenly beeped from one of the monitors on the large wall in front of him. At first, Jake didn’t even notice it as the spell of the spectacular hockey game continued to unfold in brilliant high definition in front of him.

  By design, the alarm was made to grow louder every thirty seconds until a button was pressed in acknowledgement. When the realization finally came to him that the alarm was sounding, Jake looked over at the monitor, his jaw slightly dropping open. The digital readout below the monitor indicated that multiple lifeforms were discovered all at once a few thousand miles away along with the exact coordinates. He then turned his attention to another monitor in the center of the wall. It was the largest of all and the picture it showed was provided by a large mechanical telescope fixed on top of the Mithrim Montes mountain range—the tallest point on all of Titan.

  Jake quickly punched in the coordinates he’d read into the keyboard in front of him and the telescope changed its focus in response. Within seconds, the high-powered lens concentrated on an eerie sight that made Jake’s heart race much faster than the hockey game he’d suddenly forgotten all about. In the center of the screen, with a black and starry backdrop behind it, a massive space craft travelled at a high rate of speed. It wasn’t a saucer like countless U.F.O. sightings through the years had been described. To Jake, the shape of the ship he was looking at reminded him more of an almond. The small end of the “almond” seemed to be the front and its sleek design clearly boasted a level of speed that no ship on earth was capable of. The ship was heading straight for Titan and there would be little time to react.

  With his anxiety level at an all-time high, Jake reached over and punched a green button located near the top right corner of the control panel in front of him. Within seconds, a six-inch holographic figure of a man’s head appeared in front of him—it was General Harry Hightower. The image had a defaulted green hue, but otherwise was incredibly life-like.

  “I trust this is important,” the middle-aged Hightower said with a yawn.

  “Y-yes sir,” Jake stuttered. He took a deep breath trying to regain his composure. “Sir, the moment we’ve been waiting for has arrived. I’ve got an unidentified flying object approaching at a high rate of speed. I have visual and I have confirmed it’s not anything of ours,” he stated in as calm a manner as he possibly could.

  General Hightower’s face perked up considerably. His eyes widened to the point they reminded Jake of ping pong balls. For a moment, he said nothing. It was as if he were trying to decide if he was really awake or not.

  “Very good Crosby,” he said finally. “Does the incoming object appear to be hostile in nature?”

  “There is no way to tell,” Jake replied excitedly. “The U.F.O. is moving towards us with a high rate of speed…I anticipate an E.T.A. of half an hour.”

  “Half an hour?” Hightower asked, his voice raised an octave in disbelief. “Crosby, keep your eyes on that object and be prepared to call out the exact coordinates when requested. I’ll be back in touch with you in a matter of minutes.”

  Hightower was just about to disconnect, when Jake suddenly shouted for him to wait.

  “What?” Hightower hissed. “We have absolutely no time to waste!”

  “Sir it stopped,” Jake said, his eyes still locked on the monitor.

  “What? What do you mean it stopped?” Hightower asked. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or annoyed.

  “It’s just hovering now,” Jake explained.

  “And you’re absolutely sure that this object isn’t one of ours?”

  “Yes sir,” Jake replied, nodding. “I’ve never seen a ship stop that abruptly ever before. None of our ships are capable of that.”

  General Hightower took a moment to stroke his chin as he considered the new development. “Crosby, be ready with those coordinates,” he said finally, and the holographic image immediately vanished.

  ***

  Roger Stellick had just completed his daily exercise routine and was wiping sweat away from his forehead when he noticed the gym manager jogging in his direction. She was young, very attractive, and the last sort of woman Roger would ever expect to show interest in him. She was very athletic, and he estimated she was at least ten years his junior. Her hair was long, blonde, and pulled into a pony tail. Roger, on the other hand, was balding and only in the gym because General Harry Hightower had forced him to. In his words, Roger was getting “a little fluffy” and was in danger of getting grounded if the trend continued.

  “Commander Stellick,” the woman said exc
itedly as she came to a halt in front of him. “General Hightower is on the phone wanting to speak with you immediately.”

  “Hightower?” Stellick asked, tossing the towel aside. He glanced at his watch. “He’s usually asleep at this hour.” He glanced up at the woman. “Lauren, did he say what it was about?”

  As expected she shook her head and he found himself wondering why he even asked the question.

  “Alright,” he said as he rose from the padded bench. “I’m assuming I can take it at your desk?”

  Lauren nodded and motioned for him to help himself. As he walked away, she bent over to pick up his sweaty towel and to check on some of the other military personnel using the gym.

  As Stellick reached the desk he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He then placed the phone to his ear, expecting the worst.

  “This is Commander Stellick,” he said, speaking into the receiver.

  “Stellick, it’s Harry,” the gruff general replied. “Listen, I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but I need you in a fighter in half an hour and in the air in forty-five minutes at the most.”

  Roger felt his jaw tighten. “What is going on?” he asked.

  “It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for…and the moment you’ve been training for,” General Hightower answered. “A legitimate U.F.O. is hovering near Saturn’s ring…I need you up there to intercept it. We need to find out real quick if this thing is hostile.”

  Everything Hightower was saying made Roger feel as if he were in a dream. Nothing about it seemed real. “Alright,” he said in an almost robotic tone. “I can be at the hangar in ten minutes…I’m assuming they’ll have a Comet ready?”

  “Already ahead of you,” Hightower responded. “By the time you get at the hangar, a Comet fighter will be fueled and ready for take-off. All I need is for you to get your butt over there.”