by Erica Rue
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
1. DIONE
2. DIONE
3. DIONE
4. DIONE
5. DIONE
6. DIONE
7. DIONE
8. DIONE
9. DIONE
10. DIONE
11. DIONE
12. DIONE
13. DIONE
14. DIONE
15. BRIAN
16. ZANE
17. DIONE
18. DIONE
19. DIONE
20. ZANE
21. DIONE
22. DIONE
23. DIONE
24. LITHIA
25. DIONE
26. ZANE
27. DIONE
28. LITHIA
29. DIONE
30. ZANE
31. DIONE
32. BRIAN
33. DIONE
34. LITHIA
35. DIONE
36. ZANE
37. LITHIA
38. DIONE
39. DIONE
40. DIONE
41. LITHIA
42. ZANE
43. DIONE
44. BRIAN
45. DIONE
Thank You
Acknowledgments
About the Author
The Kepos Problem
Kepos Chronicles
Book 1
Erica Rue
Copyright © 2018 Erica Rue
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages.
Editing by Jessica Hatch of Hatch Editorial Services
Cover Design by Sanja Gombar, fantasybookcoverdesign.com
Published by Tannhauser Press
tannhauserpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons or events is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Visit ericarue.com for more information.
For my mother, Jane.
For my teacher and mentor, Dorothy.
“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”
- Carl Sagan
1. DIONE
Dione Quinn sat alone in the lobby, her bags and equipment strewn around her like a barricade, checking her manumed every few minutes for a new message. He would remember. She wanted to read on her manumed, but its screen was too small. Without a holo interface, she’d have to use her tablet, but that was packed away. She contemplated taking it out, but a small crowd around one of the giant news screens caught her attention. She synced her manumed with the broadcast.
The Venatorians. At first she thought the broadcast was rehashing the attack from a week ago. The attack that had drawn her father from home in the middle of the night to attend a crisis summit. Listening a while longer, she realized that this was a different attack, nowhere near where she was.
That hadn’t stopped Kal’s parents from pulling him from the trip. The Venatorians rarely came inside the Bubble, the area of Alliance-protected space, but apparently they’d made two exceptions in the past week to attack the Dappled Rim.
Dione wasn’t worried. The Rim was nowhere close to where they were going, and she had been looking forward to this trip for months. She had qualified near the top of her class to get first pick of the Post-16 Internships. She had opted to spend the break from school on Professor Oberon’s expedition to Barusia to study hyperadaptive evolution in plants. He would never take them into a dangerous area.
She was so engrossed in the broadcast that she didn’t realize she had zoned out until someone put a hand on her shoulder, startling her.
“Hey, Di! How many hours early did you get here?”
“Lithia, you’re not late!” Dione got up to greet her best friend, Lithia Min. Lithia’s mother and Grandpa Min were there with her.
“For once. Grandpa made sure of that,” Lithia said. Lithia was tall and lean, with straight black hair, though she looked more like her father than her mother.
“Is your uncle here?” Dr. Min asked. She knew Dione well enough to guess that her father was probably busy with some Alliance meeting, and that her uncle would have been the one to see her off.
“No, he’s off-planet right now, but he sent me a vid message this morning. My dad had to leave last week after the Ven attack.” Dione didn’t even know where on the planet he was right now. She checked her manumed again, but still no message. He’d forgotten she was leaving today.
Dr. Min gave her a motherly smile and pulled her in to a hug. Dione was grateful, but she felt that Dr. Min worried about her too much. Even though her dad was always busy, she was never truly alone. All she had to do was call her uncle, if he was in town.
As she extracted herself from the hug, Dione heard her manumed go off at the exact same time as Lithia’s did. She checked the small screen to find a message from Professor Oberon: Time to board. Get a car to the Calypso. Belen’s already with me. Bay 3208.
“We’d better go,” Dione said. She picked up her bags one by one.
She turned and saw Grandpa Min giving Lithia a kiss on the cheek. He lived with Lithia and her parents, and was always good for a story. He remembered a time before the Alliance, when the quadrants all had their own laws and procedures. It always sounded chaotic to Dione, but Lithia loved his stories.
Dione and Lithia made their way to the kiosk to call a car to Professor Oberon’s ship, but someone was already there, registering their exact same destination. That didn’t make any sense. The only other student assigned to this trip was Kal, and he had dropped out.
Dione didn’t know what to say, but Lithia recognized him.
“Zane?” she said.
He turned and gave her a faint smile. “Hi, Lithia.”
Dione, though extremely confused, managed to say hello and introduce herself. Now that she had the student’s name, she figured out why she recognized his face. Zane had just taken an introductory biology class with Professor Oberon. Dione had been the professor’s student teaching assistant for that class. Zane didn’t talk much, and he had never come in for her tutoring hours either, so she didn’t know him at all. Why was someone from Intro Bio coming on this trip? He didn’t even meet the prerequisites.
“I know who you are,” he said.
Dione just nodded. What was she supposed to say to that?
“So you’re going on the Barusia trip?” Lithia said.
“Yeah, there was a last-minute opening. I was just planning to work during the break, but Oberon offered me the spot.”
“Nice,” Lithia said. The car pulled up, so the three piled their bags into the back and then hopped in. Zane sat in the row in front of them and looked down at his manumed.
Why Zane? Dione didn’t get it. As far as she could tell, Zane had no interest in biology. Why not find a different internship? Where had he even ranked? She didn’t remember seeing his name. How did Lithia know him?
***
Professor Oberon’s ship, the Calypso, was the size of a giant house, but tiny compared to the massive freighters looming in the distance. The cargo bay was open, but there was a ramp on the side leading to the upper level. Dione could hear voices coming from inside, and as she climbed the ramp, she realized they were not happy voices. Belen was arguing with the professor. Well, Elian Oberon wasn’t technically a professor at the university anymore, but StellAcademy had been lucky to get him and the title stuck.
“We’r
e not going anywhere near the attacks. We’ll be fine,” the professor was saying. He waved Dione and the others in, but didn’t break off from his conversation with Bel.
“But the attacks in general are growing more frequent!” Bel protested. “Something’s changing. The Vens are getting bolder. They were patrolling common travel routes inside the Bubble.” She threw her arms up in frustration, revealing an intricate floral tattoo on the back of her hand. Bel was petite, but strong, and her braid of thick, dark hair ran half way down her back.
“Have you looked to see how the data fit into the larger pattern?” the professor asked.
“Yes.”
“And is it a significant spike?”
“No, not yet, but more information means more deaths,” she said.
“I’m not forcing you to come along. I understand your concerns. I’m not discounting them. I just think that statistically we are not likely to come across any Vens, even near the edge of the Bubble. I think you’re basing your concerns more on how you feel than what the data support.”
Bel frowned. “I guess you’re right. I just can’t shake the feeling that these attacks are the start of something bad.”
“Intuition can be a deceptive thing,” the professor said. He turned to face Dione and the others as though they had not witnessed this disagreement. “Welcome aboard the Calypso. Make yourselves at home. We’ll have a brief orientation during the recharging period after our first jump. You’ve already been tested on safety protocols, but I like to do a few hands-on scenarios.” To Belen he added, “Why don’t you show the others around? I’ll finish loading the supplies.”
“Hey, Bel,” Dione said, still breathing hard as she set everything down in the common area. “You already settled in?”
“Yeah, I can show you to your cabins, if you want. I’m already unpacked.”
“Lead the way,” Lithia said.
Dione liked Belen. Bel was working on an independent study with the professor on insect behaviors. Dione didn’t know all the details, but it sounded fascinating.
“Here, let me help,” Bel said, grabbing one of Zane’s bags, even though he had the least luggage.
Not very subtle, Dione thought. They’d probably be coupled up before they even reached Barusia.
The common area took up nearly half the upper deck. In the center was a corridor, and on the opposite side were several cabins. They already had names on them. Zane Delapont was first, then Belen Sangha, and Lithia Min. The last cabin had her own name, Dione Quinn, on a shiny label fresh off the fabricator. She dumped her stuff inside, and was happy to see that her room was closest to the ship’s small lab. It would be perfect for running her plant growth experiments.
A minute later, everyone was back out in the corridor.
“In the back are a few empty cabins, the lab, and the infirmary,” Bel said.
Lithia looked down the corridor. “Looks more like a first aid closet.”
“Fair point, but once we get to Barusia, they’ve got facilities there. Let’s go this way,” Bel said, leading them up the hall away from their cabins. “I assume you’ll want to see the cockpit.”
“It’s a Nebula model. They all look the same, really,” Lithia said. Despite this, Dione could tell her friend still wanted to see it. After all, she would be the one flying them, once they had taken off. To get out of the crowded spaceport, she would need a full license, but on the way to Barusia, Lithia would be able to practice. Lithia had considered applying for something more flight specific, but those internships were all military, and as Lithia had put it, she didn’t want some stuck-up uniform bossing her around. After a decade of friendship, Dione knew that first hand.
Dione did not follow. She was eager to get her experiment set up. “I’ll catch up,” she said, but they were already halfway down the corridor. She grabbed a box from her cabin and headed straight to the lab. Might as well get the experiment set up now so she could take thorough initial measurements.
Inside the box were several different kinds of plants. She secured each one to the lab table, admiring their lush green leaves. This experiment, examining the effects of space jumps on plant growth, had been done several times already, but she wanted to try it out on a mantis plant. It was in a different genus than the most commonly tested species. She had created her own set of control data for the mantis plant before leaving home, but for the others, she was using the accepted control data, just to see if she could replicate the results.
Dione liked to do this, test her methodology on well-replicated experiments to see if she was following the procedures correctly. She also liked to throw in an additional sample out of curiosity.
She was about to head up to the cockpit, but Oberon called over her manumed. “Dione, can you help me in the cargo bay? The others are securing the top level.”
“Sure, be right there.” Dione knew exactly where the ladder to the cargo bay was. She had studied the ship’s schematics like there was going to be a quiz.
Dione opened the hatch on the wall and climbed down. A tall man with dark skin was hauling in a giant cargo crate. Dione was surprised that the professor, whom she’d always perceived as a little dorky, could lift such heavy cargo. His curly hair was close cut, and he was barely breathing hard. She was glad Lithia wasn’t here to ogle him. It always made her uncomfortable.
The professor positioned his crate on top of another against the wall. The two locked in place. A number of uniform interlocking crates lined the walls, while some of the larger or more oddly shaped boxes and bags were secured closer to the interior. A clear path was left between the supplies to allow easy access to the engine room.
“Hi, Professor,” Dione said, grinning.
“Dione, good morning,” the professor said, returning her smile. “We’re almost ready to go. I’ve got a few more crates to bring in, but I wanted to see if you would double-check the emergency beacon. I doubt we’ll need it, but it doesn’t hurt to be thorough.”
Dione took the responsibility seriously. She went through the attached checklist and found everything was in order. She reported back to the professor, but he had no more tasks for her.
“The main level’s common area has the biggest screens if you want to watch from there,” the professor said. “Lithia will be observing me as I take us up and plot the first jump. After that, she’ll be doing the navigation. Supervised, of course.”
Dione’s manumed buzzed. It was a message from her father: Proud of you. Have fun.
He had remembered after all.
She smiled and followed Bel and Zane to the common area. Dione had been off-world before with her father and uncle, but she still got butterflies when the ship roared to life beneath her. This was it. She had been dreaming of this trip ever since she learned of its existence in her very first biology class. Now it was actually happening. She watched the planet recede beneath them, surprised at how quickly they were moving. She felt gravity loosen its hold on her for just a moment before the ship’s artificial gravity set in.
The blue-green orb grew smaller beneath them for several minutes before the professor notified them that they were ready to jump.
Dione closed her eyes and felt a tingling sensation work its way up her arms and into her chest. For a moment, everything felt numb, but in seconds, warmth flooded her body. She was one jump closer to Barusia.
2. DIONE
It was only the third day of their ten day journey. Professor Oberon had given them the morning to work on their projects, but he had claimed the afternoon for routine ship maintenance. Dione didn’t mind, though. Even chores seemed more exciting in space. Dione had intended to learn more about the Calypso’s systems before they left, but something else always drew her attention away. Today, there were no distractions.
“We’re going to keep it simple,” Professor Oberon said. “All critical systems were thoroughly checked before departure and are off limits. You’re going to calibrate the external cameras.”
Lithia
groaned. “Maybe I should double-check the next jump to make sure it’s plotted correctly.”
“Excellent idea. I think I’ll take care of that. Zane will show you all how to do the calibrations, and then you can pair up,” the professor said.
The smile disappeared from Dione’s face. “You’re not going to show us yourself?” she asked.
“No, Zane has probably done this sort of calibration more times than I have. I can’t think of a better teacher.” Professor Oberon smiled and left.
Dione sized up Zane. The professor clearly trusted him, but why? She had never witnessed him do or say anything particularly wonderful in class.
No, she was being unfair. The professor had invited him along for a reason, and if he really was a calibration expert, then she would put aside her bias and give him a chance.
“All right, Zane,” Dione said. “Where do we start?”
Zane opened up a panel underneath one of the viewing screens in the common area.
“We’ll have to do each camera individually. I’ll start here, show you how it’s done, and then we can break off into pairs,” he said.
Dione took thorough notes on her manumed during the process and asked enough questions that she could tell she was getting on Zane’s nerves. By the end of the fifteen-minute procedure, she felt confident she could replicate it by herself.
“Let’s pair up,” he said.
“I think I can do it on my own,” Dione said, scrolling through her notes.
Zane frowned. “That’s great for you, but we’re working in pairs like Oberon said.” What had she done to deserve that response? She was just trying to be helpful. If they worked individually, they could complete the work more quickly. Dione opened her mouth to protest, but Lithia spoke first.
“Full disclosure, I zoned out in the middle of what you were doing,” Lithia said. “I’ll need help.”
“Then Lithia, you’re with me. We’ll start down in the cargo bay. Bel, you can work with Dione up here.”
