Star Bridge (Space Rogue Book 4)

by Jay Toney

  Star Bridge

  J. A. Toney

  Published by J. A. Toney

  © June 2017

  Other Books:

  Space Rogue

  Alliance Gold

  Freedom Flight

  Coming Soon:

  Lost in Space

  Doc Roberts: Space Pirate

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  My website: http://www.jaytoney.com

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/jaytoney4

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  Copyright

  The characters and events in this book are fictional. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without permission of the author are unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. Thank you for support of the author's rights.

  License Notes

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their own favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

  Introduction

  Captain Roberts has left the comfort of the Hades System. He is racing towards the Antares System and the Star Bridge. Only a few refugees were at Hell Station. Most went their own ways or settled on the system's planets.

  Captain Roberts has come across some derelict ships that might help him build his fleet. First, he will have to deal with the sirens guarding the ships. He will also have to defeat slavers, who have taken an interest in his small fleet.

  Persephone, his ship's AI is more than she thought. According to Astrea, she may even be a goddess. Nathaniel has also undergone some changes after visiting a system populated with cyborgs. He questions what he has become; is he still human, or has he become a machine.

  The Ancient Greek Gods have taken an interest in him. They are watching him carefully, occasionally interfering, during his quest for the Star Bridge.

  This chronicle in Nathaniel's life contains a prolog to bring the reader up to date, so the story may be read independently of the other books. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  1 Copyright

  2 Introduction

  3 Prologue

  4 Departing Hell

  5 The Siren's Song

  6 Slavers

  7 Kesh

  8 Anniversary Surprise

  9 Changes

  10 Ringworld

  11 War Games

  12 Bugs

  13 Over Due At The Library

  14 What In The Nevis!

  15 My Enemy, My Ally

  16 Ghost Ship

  17 Temple of Destruction

  18 Antares

  19 Star Bridge

  20 Thank You

  Prologue

  Captain Roberts and his father, Doc Roberts, and what is left of the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge left the Alliance territory to begin a new life of piracy in the Border Systems.

  He confronts and battles the Crimson Tide Pirate Organization and the Alliance Military. Instead of the free life of a pirate, he finds himself a hero, rescuing his future wife and foiling the Alliance's plans of domination. He sacrifices his ship to destroy an Alliance outpost and is rewarded with a new ship, the Persephone.

  Captain Roberts, the crew of the Starship Persephone, and the rest of his fleet have arrived in the Hades system. Instead of the fleet of refugees, sent to Hell Station, Nathaniel and Red find only two ships waiting for him. Most of the refugees fleeing the Alliance and its tyranny have been destroyed. With the exception of the Falcon and the Gryphon, the few ships that made it this far either settled in the Hades System or relocated elsewhere.

  Captain Roberts has proved himself to be a thorn in the side of the Alliance by interfering in their plans of conquest and destroying the outpost where they were secretly gathering an invasion fleet. Instead of stopping him, now they want him dead. The Alliance has put a bounty on him that few could resist. His death warrant was issued even before they realized he stole a treasure hoard intended to finance the Alliance incursion.

  Unknown to Nathaniel and his friends, the Alliance has followed him to the Hades System. The Alliance made the mistake of boarding the Keshian run space station without invitation. Now they will pay.

  The small fleet that Captain Roberts and his partner Red assembled have left the Hades System en route to the Altair System. Once there, they will begin their search for the Star Bridge that brought them to this galaxy from Earth.

  Departing Hell

  My wives and I loved Hell station. It offered us everything we could possibly think of except for safety from the Alliance. It was a place that I could see us living at, but couldn't with the Alliance hunting me. So far, we were lucky, staying a step ahead of them. Unfortunately, our luck wouldn't hold out forever. We needed to keep moving.

  Our two-week stay ended up being extended to ten weeks. Nugget was ready to leave, but wouldn't do so until our ships were up to his standards. It took a month to modify the Falcon and the Griffon, that was the easy part. Their new engines, hyperdrive, energy shields, and computer modifications would allow the ships to keep up with us. Little else was done to those ships.

  Nugget toured my ship personally to ensure it was up to his standards. He didn't say much during the inspection. He just grunted occasionally. I took that as my ship meeting his standards. He took a look at my cabin and said, "This suite is much too good for the likes of you." He was further surprised to find that the cabin came equipped with Jewel and Amber. I also made sure to tell him about the cleaning service and breakfast meals that Rosie provided on a daily basis. He stared at me, lost for words, or insults.

  The only other surprise came on the bridge. He wasn't impressed with the layout, or the neurolink headsets that were new to us. When Persephone's holographic image appeared on the bridge, he was amazed and lost for words. He finally managed to say, "Now that's what I call a mighty fine looker." He scribbled a couple of notes on his computer pad. I later found out that it was to have holographic emitters placed throughout the ship, so Persephone would have the freedom to appear just about anyplace aboard the ship at will.

  The only other upgrade to my ship was four replicators. One was located in engineering and programmed to supply only tools, spare parts, and other essentials. Two replicators were placed in the crew section. To keep the crew honest, everything they replicated came with a cost associated with it. They couldn't replicate anything without the fair value price being deducted from their credit account. The crew couldn't cheat the system by making more credits without first paying for them. The last replicator was placed in officer territory. I didn't tell Nugget that Jewel, Amber, and I were human replicators, and could replicate most anything, with the exception of living entities. That was a secret that only a few knew about.

  Red's ship, the Vengeance, was a whole differ
ent matter. For a ship of its size, there was little room for the crew, officers, and cargo. Most of the problem came from its Alliance design. The ventilation system alone took up a lot of space. The ventilation ducts were large enough to crawl through, and in some places to walk through. He replaced that system with a much more efficient high-pressure system, that moved, even more air, at a greater velocity. It used only a fraction of the space. No matter where you went on Red's ship, after the upgrade, a fresh breeze could be felt coming from the new ventilation system.

  Nugget replaced virtually every utility system in the ship, freeing up space, and improving efficiency. Even the ship's hydroponics and environmental systems were gutted and replaced. This freed up a lot of space, that he used to expand crew comfort and the officer's living quarters. His suite was a match for mine now. He also did the same for Red's and Natty's cabin. When he met Natty, he shook his head thinking his friend Red should have been able to do a lot better. He frequently referred to Natty as Red's dizzy dame."

  Redesigning and making Red's ship more livable, and comfortable was what took most of the time. For a person that was only 4ft 8 inches tall, Nugget needed a lot of space. He furnished his quarters with custom furniture that was designed for his height and used a lot of pillows for seating.

  While Red's ship was being remodeled, my wives and I continued to sample Hell's attractions. Hell's Furies frequently practiced with us and challenged us to a low G flying competitions. They didn't care about winning or losing, they wanted to learn acrobatics from Jewel and Amber so that they could put on a show that would increase their audience size when they competed against other teams.

  They studied and practiced the maneuvers that the girls constantly surprised them with. When word got out about our friendly competitions and practice sessions with Hell's Furies, they were already drawing larger and larger crowds.

  Acrobatics was something never seen before in flying competitions. The competitions were based on skill and speed. After losing to Jewel, they wanted to learn how she flew the way that she did. The Furies planned on making acrobatics a part of the competition from now on. They would have the advantage of learning from us and being the first to introduce the new element to the race. Their fandom was already growing with the practice sessions they were having with us. In exchange for our help, we all became regular customers at Hell's Kitchen.

  All good things come to an end in time. With the Vengeance ready, it was time to depart. A few of my crew, mostly entertainment staff from the Lucy elected to stay in Hell. Red, on the other hand needed to replace 37 members of his crew, needed for critical systems and function. Nugget came to his rescue replacing them with Keshian Raiders that he worked with in the past. Red received more experienced crew to take the place of the people he lost. They were all pilots who could fly his Marauder assault shuttles, a skill set he greatly needed. He had enough pilots to fill three squadrons of Marauders now.

  In the two months we spent in Hell, we made several new friends. Most of them showed up on the docks to see us off. Amongst those who attended were Hell's Furies, the staff from Hell's Kitchen, several members of the adult entertainment group. Satan along with several of his demons and imps from To Hell and Gone, also showed up to see us off. He wasn't the real devil but played the part at an amusement park.

  When I was younger, I had the occasional lady friend show up to see me off. They were often accompanied by their boyfriends or husbands, to make sure I was leaving. Nothing like this ever happened before. We had a whole crowd of people wishing us a safe journey and speedy return.

  Nugget and I were on better terms. He still didn't address me as Captain, but he spoke to me civilly now. I offered to pay for the upgrades to our ships. He turned down my offer. He told me that the technology I shared was more than adequate compensation for the upgrades and repairs done to our ships. The space station would profit by upgrading the ships of their friends. He also made sure our ships were serviced and stocked with fresh provisions and ammunition.

  I think he had a crush on Persephone. He made time to visit her frequently while overseeing the changes to Red's ship. I couldn't blame him. As he put it, she is one fine dame.

  Our small fleet departed from Hell and formed up in a loose formation. As soon as we were clear of Hell Station, we entered hyperspace. Our next destination was Proxima Rhodana. We would be traveling faster on our way to the Antares System, without needing to search for refugees. We would also be maximizing the range of our jumps, traveling much further. With luck, we would be in the Antares System in just a couple of months.

  ****

  "Lord Admiral, the space station is in range of our visual sensors."

  "Put it on screen."

  The words, "Welcome to Hell," in flame red letters, was clearly visible on the viewscreen.

  "Is this some sort of a joke?"

  "We are receiving a comm signal from the space station."

  "Put it on screen."

  A short, stocky, heavily muscled man appeared on the viewscreen, "This is a private station, no visitors allowed!"

  "We are looking for a fugitive. He goes by the name of Captain Roberts, or the Dread Pirate Roberts. There is a reward for his capture, and any information leading to his capture will also be rewarded."

  "As I said this is a private space station. We don't receive any unwelcome visitors, and we certainly didn't have him on our guest list."

  "He may have been accompanied by a mercenary going by the name Red."

  "We haven't heard of him either."

  "We have to be sure. The information we have collected makes your space station a likely stop for him. We are sending a shuttle over to review your records."

  "Set foot in hell if you dare. We don't have anything to hide."

  "Lieutenant, end communications. Send a detachment to the space station and search their archives. If there is any resistance, shoot to kill.

  "Understood, they will comply. Their space station will soon be a part of the Alliance."

  The assault shuttle approached the space station. No communications were transmitted to the shuttle as it approached. It wasn't the first time for the Alliance shuttle pilot. He didn't need clearance. He had a breaching crew on board. He approached the docks labeled Torture, Mischief, and Mayhem. He maneuvered the shuttle craft to dock, at the dock labeled Mayhem. The docking bay door opened for the shuttle, inviting his landing team in.

  This time his breaching and demolitions crew wouldn't be needed to force their way into the station. He entered the hangar and landed the shuttle craft.

  Before he shut down the shuttle's engines, the hangar doors closed and the shuttle bay pressurized. As soon as the pressure reached normal pressure, the rear hatch on the shuttle opened, and all twenty members of his security detachment departed, heading to the space station's operations center.

  A computer technician, part of the detachment, began searching the records stored in the computer's files. The logs had no record of the Persephone, or any other ship of her class visiting the space station. Outside of regular traffic, the only ship to dock here was a freighter, arriving two months ago. It recently departed, after unloading trade goods, repairing a faulty engine pod, and being serviced.

  Records could be altered. The technician began to cross-examine inventory and sales reports pertaining to the reaction mass, ammunition, repair parts, and food. The inventory report matched the station's records with no irregularities. There was always some deviation. Either record keeping was 100% accurate on this station, or the records were altered. They were too accurate for the technician to believe.

  There was no evidence to prove the records were altered. In fact, the records proved otherwise. The techie finished her report, adding her suspi
cions to the report. She sent the data file to her commanding officer.

  "Captain Harding, I have reviewed the technician's report and agree with her suspicions. Leave your detachment on the space station to oversee operations, and begin implementing Alliance protocols. We will return here when time permits to finish the job."

  "Yes, sir! The fools will soon be under our control Lord Admiral."

  ****

  "Nazzel, take a squad and eliminate the remaining Alliance soldiers," Amos ordered. "Any Alliance presence must be dealt with. It is on the list of orders that Chancellor Nugget left with me."

  "The Kildarians are due to arrive anytime, wouldn't it be more sensible to capture and hold the prisoners for them? We can increase our profits by selling the captives to them."

  "You are right, of course. Providing them to our friends will satisfy Nuggets order. Our Kildarian friends won't mind their meals tenderized a little, as long as their blood still flows warm. Capture them. Our friends will be delighted with the cargo substitution. Their desire for fresh human flesh will ensure a good price for the prisoners. Is our fleet in position?"

  "They are cloaked and standing by for your orders."

  "Raise the station's defenses and weapons. Have our fleet decloak and engage the Alliance ships. Do not allow any of their ships to escape. Have our salvage crews stand by to clean up any evidence of their destruction. We can't afford to leave any evidence of the Alliance's presence here."

  "I understand Amos. It will be done." Nazzel spoke a few words into his comm unit, then left Amos to continue his work. Alarms sounded throughout Hell and bulkhead doors sealed in preparation for battle.

  ****

  "Lord Admiral, we have received a signal from Hell Station. It was silenced before they could finish their message. I've been unable to contact any members of our detachment."