by R. E. Graham
Kingdom of Sand – Book 1 “Judgment Day”
Written by: R. E. Graham
Novels in the Revelations SciFi Universe available on Amazon
“Rise of the Inquisitor”
by R. E. Graham
Kingdom of Sand – Book 2 “Redbeard”
Coming March 2019!
Legal Notice
Revelations: Kingdom of Sand – Book 1 “Judgment Day”
Copyright © 2019 written by R. E. Graham. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, governments, WarMechs, and events portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and as such are his express property.
This book may not be copied or duplicated in whole or in part via any means including electronic forms of duplication such as audio or video recording or transcription. The contents of this book may not be stored in any retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for any use whether public or private, other than brief quotations contained in articles or reviews which fall under the “fair use” exception, without the express prior permission of the author.
First Edition: February 2019
ISBN-13: 978-0-9980312-1-7
ISBN-10: 0-9980312-1-6
This book is dedicated to Jesus Christ, for without Him I wouldn’t even be on this path of being an author in the first place…
Acknowledgments
I want to take a quick moment to thank a couple of people that have specifically helped to make this book you have in your hands possible. Without a doubt, my biggest support has been my fantastic wife, Erin. She has put up with a lot from my creativity in this project and has been more than happy to help in any way she can. She truly is a companion that any man would be incredibly blessed and fortunate to have alongside through life. The next person would be my best friend, Jerry. Even when he has had crazy things going on in his life he still found time to read early drafts, help with online discussions on our Facebook page and more. He is a true friend and has helped to motivate me to continue when I have been discouraged.
“Sometimes a man has to make hard decisions to provide for his family. Sometimes we have to do things that we never thought we would do so that the people we love can survive. I know you'll do the right thing…"
- Henry Tarvus on his sickbed 430 ANE
Chapter 1
Cycle: 434 Month: 2 Rotation: 9
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Siimon
Planet: Destiny
Location: Largo, a small town
The excitement was in the air as the large transport spacecraft nicknamed Only Hope descended towards the planet below. Its dark gray and brown painted exterior was incredibly worn looking from her many re-entries into atmospheres.
Two large engines on its sides rotated upward to slow its descent as it neared the stonecrete tarmac. The jets blew hard to slow its speed sending tan colored dust into the air as it touched down gracefully.
The observing crowd that awaited nearby shielded their eyes from the harsh gusts and sand as their clothes were covered in a faint shade of tan. Three large landing "legs" for the transport class Goto made contact with the landing zone and adjusted to the weight of the ship as it settled into place.
Patrix Guld, the Ground Chief, stood at the front of the grounded ship positioned by the loading ramp. He waved his hand and the ground crew waiting on the ground instantly got to work. Half attached tubes for refueling and checked the spacecraft for damage while the other half began unloading cargo from the cargo bay of the Only Hope.
A small woman with a tablet tucked under her left arm walked up to the port side of the ship and stood with her hands in her pockets watching as the crew was busy moving in all directions. As several of the ship's crew began exiting the vessel by the ramp the woman smiled. Her target was one man, in particular, the Captain.
“Captain Tarvus, how was your trip?” she asked as she tried to shout over the hustling going on around them.
Captain Mikhail Tarvus, a tall, muscular man with a short scruffy black beard, greeted the woman with a nod and slight smile. “We all returned safely, Miranda, but the haul wasn't as big as it has been in the past. Thankfully, we did secure enough for our immediate needs."
One of the other crew exiting the spacecraft, an average sized man with a very clean-cut appearance and a strong jawline, approached on the Captain’s left. “I’m sorry to interrupt Captain, but I just received a call about my youngest daughter…I guess she is really sick” Riko Hahn said as his eyes looked down at the ramp in sadness.
Mikhail placed his hand on his shipmate’s shoulder and gave him a firm look. “Go, tend to your family. We have plenty here to take care of our cargo.”
“Thank you, Captain,” the somber Riko said before he turned and left the makeshift spaceport.
The Captain walked off the ramp followed by Miranda with a bit of a bounce in his steps. Their last run had brought back the much needed supplies that his town desperately needed. It wasn't as much as they would have liked, but it got them further along the road.
“How much were you able to secure, Captain?” the woman asked as she brought the tablet she carried up along with a stylus.
“Forty cases of Republic rations,” Mikhail said with a grin. “Enough for thirty rotations.”
Miranda recorded the information then asked, “Anything else of note I should be aware of?”
The pair stopped by a stack of plasti-crates the crew had already unloaded. He shook his head. “Nothing except that my chair still rattles on re-entry. Everything else went fairly smooth thanks to Riko and his Goblin.”
“I will have someone look at your captain’s chair again,” Miranda said as she nodded with a stoic face and walked off to conclude the rest of her job of inventorying the acquired cargo.
Suddenly a small excited shriek pierced above all the commotion of the ground crew hard at work. Mikhail turned around and smiled with sheer joy at the sight of his young son rushing up to meet him. His little arms were opened wide, amplified by his little face shining with utter happiness to see his father. Tarvus scooped his son up and bounced him in his arms.
“Oh, I’m so happy to see you, Coral!” Mikhail said. He kissed his son on the cheek and bounced him two more times.
“He has not stopped talking about you,” Leesa Tarvus said as she caught up to her son.
“Oh yeah?” Mikhail asked with a grin. “Have you been good for your mother?”
The small boy put a finger in his mouth as he averted his eyes of his father. “Yeeeeah…”
Mikhail looked to his wife for her approval of their son’s answer. She reached up and rubbed his back. “Yes, he has been very good.”
The Captain leaned in and gave his wife a kiss on her lips. “I missed you.”
She looked back into his eyes with great love and affection. “I missed you too. So, how did it go?”
Mikhail began slowly walking away from the busy unloading workers and his wife followed. “It went well. We thought things were going to be a bit rough for a little while, but Riko took care of things with his WarMech. He just told me his daughter is sick.”
Leesa looked away to not show the pain brewing on her face. "Yeah, she's sick again. Fourth time this cycle." She made eye contact with her husband. "We really need medicines. Our supply of pain relievers is good, but so many others are low including antibiotics.”
“I am hoping that our next trip out we will be able to get what we need. I will make sure I keep an eye out” Mikhail said as he set Coral down.
“Thank you,” Leesa said as she w
atched two of the Only Hope’s crew offloading a large brown and yellow striped plasti-crate.
“How long do you think we will have to do this?” Mrs. Tarvus asked. “I wish there was another way.”
Mikhail observed all of the crew and ground team members rush this way and that getting everything sorted and organized. Miranda opened each storage bin and counted what was inside.
The Captain put his hands on his hips, and his face turned a bit colder. “Maybe one day the Republic will step in. Until then, this is necessary.”
“I know, I just wish…” Leesa didn’t finish her sentence.
Her husband knew the struggle and grief she fought. She was one of the most vocally opposed to her husband and his crew leaving Destiny in search of supplies.
Seeing her internal struggle, Mikhail placed his hands on her shoulders. “I know Leesa. I know.” He hugged her deeply then released her. “Why don’t you both head back home and I will finish up here. It shouldn’t be much longer.”
Reluctantly Leesa nodded and led Coral away from the landing zone.
Mikhail spent the next hour or so helping his ground crew get the Only Hope ready for her next run. While they planned on being grounded for quite some time, you never knew when an opportunity would arise.
After finishing up her primary task Miranda and Patrix found the Captain as he was wiping the grease off his hand with an old stained towel.
The older woman briskly approached Mikhail and handed him her tablet. "Captain, I have finished inventorying the cargo. We have twenty-five rotations worth of food along with a case of paper office supplies that seems to have been mislabeled as food."
Mikhail accepted the tablet and scanned over it quickly. The heavyset ground chief crossed his arms as he leaned up against a hauler truck.
“How much of the rations do you want to send to the mercs up in the capitol?” Patrix asked neutrally.
The Captain scanned the cargo list a second time and visibly looked bothered. He knew their last trip didn't yield a tremendous amount, but things had been so crazy he didn't have time to really look over the crates. He shook his head in disappointment at his own failure to accurately estimate what they acquired.
“If your list is accurate…”
The woman’s eyebrow arched disapprovingly.
Mikhail held up his hand and smiled. “I’m sure it is. What I meant to say is that I had hoped we had secured a few more rotations worth of food.”
“Aye,” Patrix said with a sigh.
The Captain let out his own exhale of disappointment. As he thought things over, he looked out on his ground team as they finished moving the cargo into a small warehouse. He massaged his short beard in thought before he turned back to Miranda. "Alright, well, send the mercs fifteen percent."
“Typically, we send them twenty percent. That isn’t going to make them very happy Captain.”
“How are they going to know how much we hauled back? And even if they do, they will just have to deal with it, just like we will.”
The older woman stood up straight. “Aye, aye Captain.”
As Miranda disappeared into the chaos of people moving about Patrix raised his hand. “Uh, Cap?”
“Yes, Chief?” Mikhail asked as he eyed his father’s long-time friend.
“We need to talk about Hern sir.”
The Captain crossed his arms. “What about him?”
“Well…we got a complaint from Tyna that he may have…I’d phrase it as coming on a little too strong before you guys left on that last run.”
Mikhail shook his head in disgust at the thought of his ship's gunner. Hernando Troy was a man with quite the checkered past, but he was a damn good warrior to have around in case things went wrong. Not to mention he was an excellent ship's gunner.
“We’ve already spoken to him about this. But his history with Tyna has gotten to be a real annoyance.”
“Aye,” Patrix said in agreement. “Her mother was the one who made the complaint to me, but I don’t want to be in the middle of it.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
The Chief smiled widely. “Thank you, sir.”
“Anything else?”
“Not right now.” Patrix nodded to the Captain then got back to work assisting the organization of supplies.
Now that his major objectives had been completed, Captain Mikhail activated the radio on his left shoulder.
“This is Captain Tarvus to Jax.”
“Jax here Captain,” the other man said over the radio. His voice crackled from slight interference.
“Call me if you need me. I am going to have dinner with my family,” Mikhail said as he stretched his neck.
“Will do. I will make sure everything is in order before everyone takes off.”
“Thank you, Jax.”
The Captain left the landing zone and made his way to his home on foot. He enjoyed his walks through his small town, taking time to admire the quaint and faded look of the dusty planet. Largo had seen much better cycles, but it was still home. A hovercar drove by as he walked down the sidewalk and the driver kindly honked at the Captain. Mikhail waved back and smiled.
Destiny had been his homeworld since he was eight cycles old. When it was colonized generations ago, it was selected for its abundance of natural resources. It was one of the only two worlds in all of the Siimon prefecture to have hydrol, the primary resource needed to form the power cells for spacecraft to move about the stars. Before the discovery of hydrol humankind struggled to invent any sort of space travel that wouldn’t require a lifetime to get from planet to planet. Now they could travel by hopping to their destination, which was generally a safe point that had already been confirmed by explorers. These points allowed spacecraft to hop from system to planetary system without fear of ending up in a star. The only downside was that if your jump was three rotations away, the momentary hop into the Nth dimension felt like an instant but was still three rotations to everyone else outside of the trip.
Despite the resource on the planet running short, they had acquired a hefty supply of hydrol months ago. This had enabled them to continue to go on their necessary runs across the stars.
The Captain's homeworld had a rich history in the Corre Republic as one of its inner worlds. Sadly, back during the war against the Synthetics, Destiny had been purged of humans and left a desolate wasteland. Colonists during the Reformation brought humans back to the planet, but the surface of the war-scarred world had never been the same since the war. Where massive and strong forests once stood, now was a flat desert. It would take generations to rebuild any of the infrastructures that once stood tall.
While walking along the sidewalk, Mikhail kicked a small dull reddish-brown colored rock. It skipped down the street and stopped several steps away. Without even thinking the Captain kicked it again, but this time it flew further and went off the sidewalk and into a group of flowers in Mrs. Denson's yard.
Mikhail looked up to see Mrs. Denson sitting in a rocking chair on her porch with a perturbed face. He smiled nervously and placed his hand behind his head.
“Uh, sorry about that Mrs. Denson.”
She continued to scowl at him as he awkwardly walked away.
After making a left through the last intersection, he finally was on his own street. He took in a deep breath and enjoyed the dry, dusty smell. A small uptick of joy filled his heart at the sight of his old wooden home. He walked up the short stony driveway and double stepped up the weary planks and onto his porch. The sound of his steps echoed under the wood as he excitedly reached for the front screen door. But instead of opening, when he yanked the door to open it, the doorknob came right off.
His wife couldn’t help but chuckle when she opened the front door to see her husband holding the screen door’s piece in his hand.
Mikhail looked at his wife and enjoyed a laugh himself. “I uh…guess I’ll need to fix this.”
"Not until you have a home-cooked meal,” Leesa said as she helped push open
the screen door and then disappeared inside.
The thin door creaked as it opened to allow the Captain inside and then slammed behind him loudly. He jumped from the sudden noise but before he could comment he heard his son shout, “Hi Daddy!”
The smallest Tarvus came running up to his father and wrapped himself around his leg. Mikhail patted him on the head. “Hey, buddy. You would think you didn’t just see me a little while ago.”
“He is always happy to see you,” Leesa called out from the kitchen.
Mikhail reached down and lifted his son up. “And I am always happy to see him too.” He leaned in and nibbled at his son’s neck which made the small boy squeal with happiness.
“What’s for dinner my love?” the Captain asked as he pulled a chair out from their dinner table and set his son down. The table had already been set with utensils and napkins.
“Your favorite!”
While chuckling to himself, the man shook his head. "I really doubt it."
Leesa came out from the kitchen carrying a casserole dish. She set it down on an old looking warming pad in the middle of the table and sat down in her usual seat.
Mikhail did his best not to make a gross face in front of his son. “Mmmm…dehydrated jorbat casserole. You shouldn’t have…”
“Have to make do with what we have,” his wife said as she smiled up at him.
“Maybe next time I am out I will be sure to get something a little more…edible.”
“I love Mommy’s food Daddy,” Coral said as he put his hands up on the table in anticipation of devouring his meal.
“That makes two of us son.”
Mikhail pulled out his own chair at the head of the table and slid down. Leesa put a scoop on everyone’s plates as hot steam drifted above the dish.
The Captain looked around at his home from his table. Even though he hadn’t been gone that long, his near-death experience on this last mission made him feel a new level of appreciation for what he did have on this dustball of a world. Just as he was considering telling his wife about what happened, Leesa said, “Mik, are you okay?”
