Discovery (The Niakrim War Book 1)

by David J. VanBergen Jr.

  "We didn't fire because we couldn't see the ship," Mitch sighed. He knew what he was going to say next would be hard to believe. He had lived it and still found it hard to believe. "The ship was cloaked, sir."

  "That's not possible," the vice-admiral insisted. "You must be mistaken."

  "We are not mistaken," Cyrus nearly shouted. Colin put his hand on Cyrus's non-robotic arm to calm him down.

  Vice-Admiral Spiraculi had clearly had his fill of the conversation. "Look, Mitch," he said as if he was scolding a child. "I tell you this as a friend. You are pushing your ship and your crew too hard. You're traveling too fast for too long. There's a reason restrictions are placed on warp travel. It messes with your mind. You need to stop pushing the limits before you get everyone on your ship killed."

  "Spiraculi, I know what we saw," Mitch growled.

  "What you think you saw isn't possible, Captain," the vice-admiral replied. "Relax for a couple days. The rest of your crew will be there in two days. Make sure you follow ALL of the regulations on this next assignment."

  The hologram of Vice-Admiral Spiraculi disappeared, leaving everyone at the table stunned or angry or both. Before anyone could speak, Mozzie suddenly appeared with a large platter of unidentifiable yet delicious smelling delicacies. Two trays of beverages carried by serving bots floated behind him.

  "The finest food this side of the galaxy has to offer," Mozzie announced. "Plus the most exquisite elixirs known to man...and woman."

  Food and drinks were quickly passed around the table and everyone nearly forgot about the fruitless conversation they had just had with IMF headquarters. Good food and drink had a way of making almost any problem go away—at least for a time.

  As their host turned to leave, Mitch called after him. "So who was this dead fellow you bought clothes off of?"

  "Some chap named Capone," Mozzie said with a grin that hinted at a side of him that you didn't want to cross. "Brilliant business man from what I can tell. A bit violent, but I can respect that. A man's gotta fight to get what he desires—and to keep it."

  "Sounds like an interesting fellow," the captain commented, but had already forgotten the name by the time the first bite of food touched his lips. It was truly fantastic, just as Mozzie had said.

  As the rest of the table began to devour the unidentified delicacies, Violet made a mental note to research this man named Capone. Her gut told her Mozzie would be a good man to have on her side and she would be well served to understand everything she could about him.

  THAT NIGHT at Mozzie's was one of the most indulgent of Violet's life. It was literally the finest food and drink she had ever sampled. The fact that every member of the crew had been treated wasn't lost on her. Nor the realization that this was probably not unusual for Captain Mitch Cooper. She doubted the bureaucrats back on Earth had any idea of the lifestyle the crew of the Krim Sprinter apparently lived.

  Violet was certain of one thing. This type of lifestyle required a lot of power or money...or both. Despite the ITC's and IMF's apparent lack of regard for the lowly Captain Cooper, she was starting to think he might actually be one of the most powerful men in the galaxy. She just had no idea why or how. Yet.

  After dessert and a round of exotic coffees from the farthest reaches of the galaxy, the crew began to disperse. The fact that they casually scattered to pursue their own entertainment proved that this kind of indulgence wasn't unusual. When most of the crew had left, the captain excused himself as well.

  "I have some business to attend to," Mitch announced as slid out of the booth. "Colin, Cyrus, please make sure Violet makes it to her quarters. I believe this is her first visit to Proxima and I would hate for her to get lost...or worse."

  "Sure thing, Mitch," Colin replied with a nod.

  Violet couldn't help but feel the captain had ulterior motives for making sure she went straight to her room.

  Belzaire and Kublai left the table shortly after the captain, leaving Violet alone with Colin and Cyrus. It was time to get some answers about the mysterious Captain Mitch Cooper.

  Colin beat Violet to the punch. "Let's say we order another round of coffees and let Miss Maciera ask all those questions that are undoubtedly running around in her head."

  "Am I that transparent?"

  Colin shrugged. "You wouldn't be human if you didn't have questions after what you have seen and experienced in the last two days."

  "Yeah, it's not quite what I expected."

  "Now, before you ask your questions, please understand I probably won't be able to answer many of them," Colin warned. "In some cases, the answers aren't mine to give. In others, I truly won't know the answer. The captain can be a very secretive man. I doubt anyone knows most of his secrets."

  "It's better that way," Cyrus interjected. "It's impossible to leak secrets you don't know. Less pressure than keeping secrets."

  Violet studied the man with a robotic arm and computer-enhanced brain. He was as much a legend as Captain Mitch Cooper, and even more of an enigma. Did he truly accept being left in the dark by the captain, or was it just a façade to cover his bitterness?

  "I understand," she said after a moment. "Can you at least tell me how the captain affords dinners like this? I have never eaten so many rare—and expensive—foods."

  "That's easy," Colin said. "He doesn't. This is all on the house. Even the luxury suites we stay in."

  "What?"

  "Mozzie and Mitch go way back," Colin said with a smile that clearly meant there wasn't anything else he was going to share on that matter.

  Violet wanted to know more about the captain, but there was something that she wanted to know about even more. The unknown enemy. "I know the vice-admiral doesn't believe we were attacked, but I was there. We were definitely attacked."

  "Oh, the vice-admiral believed Mitch, he just doesn't take the threat seriously," Colin said. "You have to remember, the IMF is the largest, most technologically advanced military force in the known galaxy. Men like Spiraculi believe they are invincible."

  "He thinks the IMF is the most technologically advanced military force," Cyrus snorted. "I would say cloaking technology changes things."

  Definitely bitter, Violet thought.

  "Are you sure that ship had cloaking technology?" Colin asked.

  "The ship was cloaked," Cyrus assured him.

  "It was invisible," Violet agreed. "Speaking of which, how did you know something was there, Cyrus?"

  Cyrus suddenly looked away and refused to make eye contact with her.

  "Come on, Cyrus. She's gonna find out eventually," Colin said. "Besides, it's not like it's a secret or anything."

  "I don't want to talk about it," Cyrus said as he got up from the table, still avoiding eye contact with Violet. "I'm going to bed. You can tell her if you want."

  Violet watched Cyrus walk away with a mix of pity and curiosity. "You don't have to tell me anything," she told Colin.

  "Nonsense," he said good-naturedly. "I'll walk you to your room and tell you all about our legendary pilot, Cyrus Jones."

  Colin offered Violet a hand as she slid out of the booth, then offered his elbow. As he escorted her out of Mozzie's, he began to tell the story of Cyrus Jones. She had heard much of it before. He had been the greatest pilot in the fleet; the only one capable of navigating a ship at warp three. Unfortunately, even his reflexes weren't infallible when traveling at three hundred times the speed of light.

  Cyrus was the only survivor when an uncharted asteroid field came through the warp field and destroyed the ship he was piloting. And the only way he had survived was through the use of cutting edge robotic technology. This was where things she had previously learned got fuzzy.

  "So the doctors that supposedly patched him up really didn't?"

  "Oh, they gave him his robotic arm and implanted synthetic organs," Colin said, "but when he showed up at the medical facility, he had already undergone significant restorative surgery. I've examined him and the technology used is beyond any
thing we have...or even know about."

  "What do you mean?"

  "From what I can tell, he suffered massive head trauma on the right side," he said. "Half of his brain is missing. It should have killed him instantly."

  "How did he survive?"

  "I don't know how he survived initially," Colin admitted. "Now, he survives because that half of his brain has been replaced by the most advanced computer I have ever seen."

  "You're telling me he has a computer for a brain?" Violet asked incredulously.

  "It's more than that," Colin told her with awe in his voice. "It's the most advanced artificial intelligence in the known galaxy. And his robotic eye is even more advanced."

  "Is that how he knew something was there?"

  "Honestly, he probably doesn't even know," Colin said. "His robotic eye is capable of taking in a vast amount of information, much of it outside of the visible spectrum. The AI is able to process it faster than humanly possible. Somehow, he—it—knew something wasn't right even if he didn't know what."

  "Oh, I think I understand,” Violet said. “It was a high-tech hunch.”

  “And his hunches are never wrong,” Colin added.

  “Sounds like a tremendous asset.”

  “I just worry about the day that whoever saved his life comes calling,” Colin said. “Nothing in life is free.”

  They walked in silence after that, each thinking about the miracle that had saved Cyrus’s life…and the unknown potential cost.

  "Well, here we are," Colin announced a few moments later, stopping in front of door with a basket of fruit on the door, apples by the look of it.

  "Thank you for the enlightening conversation, Doctor."

  "Don't call me that, it makes me sound old and stuffy," Colin said in mock indignation. "Call me Colin, even when we're in public."

  "Good night then, Colin," Violet said with a smile.

  Colin stood there silently, waiting for Violet to enter her room. "I promised Mitch I would see you to your room," he said after a moment of awkwardness. "That means I can't leave until I see you go inside."

  "Oh," Violet said. "I will see you tomorrow."

  As Violet turned and entered her luxury suite, she got the distinct feeling that Colin wasn't just there to make sure she made it back to her room.

  CHAPTER 4

  DAY 6

  Nothing I was taught on Earth prepared me for what I would find at my first space station. I have seen members of every major alien race as well as many others I have only briefly heard of. Some appear to be completely undocumented. I was even more surprised by the establishment known as Mozzie's. It was more of a lawless frontier outpost than the refined space station I expected. Yet, there was still a level of sophistication I also had not expected.

  It is apparent that Captain Mitch Cooper has a lot of influence here. I haven't seen anything worth reporting, but I am certain there is more going on than I am aware of. In fact, it is likely there is more going on than even the highest level crew members know about.

  VIOLET RE-READ the last of her journal entries before placing her tablet in the small galactic transmitter. She paused for a moment before encrypting the transmission then hit send. The miniature galactic transmitter her great-uncle had given her was supposed to be one of only two in existence. The other was on her great-uncle’s desk. She wasn’t sure if she believed that she had the only other one, but she knew it was a technology that wasn’t supposed to exist—at least not in a portable device.

  I'm not betraying anyone, she told herself. I'm just reporting on my first space mission.

  Violet thought about the night she had experienced at Mozzie's while she waited for message confirmation. It had been one of the best nights of her life, certainly the most interesting. She was already becoming very fond of the crew. Isolation in space travel was known to force people to bond, but she thought it was more than that. Violet was truly beginning to like the crew of the Krim Sprinter. And Mitch Cooper was a mystery she was determined to solve.

  After the "Message Received" alert chimed, Violet locked her tablet and returned it to the hidden compartment in her luggage. She knew she should get some rest, but there was still so much she wanted to know so she decided to go exploring.

  Violet expected Colin, or even Kublai, to be outside her room, but there wasn't anyone there to stop her from leaving. She soon found herself on an outside balcony that ran the length of the interstellar hotel. The scene before her could only be described as controlled chaos. Thousands of people of different alien races rushed in every direction. Dozens of starships were docked at the space station. Many were of standard design, but several were unlike anything she had seen in the space exploration books she had studied in the weeks before she boarded the Krim Sprinter for the first time.

  She was studying a very square ship unload cargo when a voice startled her. "It's an amazing sight, isn't it?" Belzaire asked as he joined her, leaning on the rail of the balcony. "When I look out at all those people, I can't help but hope that someday I will see another of my kind—one not wearing an ITC or IMF uniform, that is."

  Intrigued, Violet asked, "Do you really think there are more Jabuka in the galaxy?"

  "I can only hope," he said with a sad smile.

  Violet turned toward him, intending to comfort him, and was startled to see Kublai standing several feet away. "Oh," she exclaimed. "I thought you were alone."

  "I'm never really alone," he said with a forced smile, only slightly less sad than before. "Let's continue this discussion in my suite."

  Violet was way too curious to turn down the offer and followed Belzaire to the end of the balcony and an elevator that took them to the top floor. She could instantly tell that the rooms on this level were far larger and more extravagant than her own. Halfway down the balcony, Belzaire stopped at a door with a square black pad on each side. He placed a hand on each pad and the door suddenly slid open.

  "It operates on the same technology as warp fields," he told her. "The door can only be opened by someone of Jabuka ancestry."

  The room inside was stunning. "This is amazing."

  "It's the nicest prison cell in the galaxy."

  Violet started to laugh at the joke but when she looked at him, she could tell he wasn't joking—at least not entirely.

  "Don't get me wrong," Belzaire quickly clarified. "I am never treated like a prisoner, but ITC regulations require me to be constantly monitored...for my own protection. We are far too valuable because we are the only ones who can generate warp fields."

  Violet didn't know a lot about warp technology, nobody really did, but she knew that it required someone of Jabuka descent—that, warp fluid, and a niakrim warp field generator. Those were the three things that essentially allowed the ITC and IMF to rule the galaxy.

  "I never realized what it must be like for you."

  "No worries," he said. "We are all slaves to something...or someone. At least I get to live like a king."

  Violet wasn't so sure he believed those words. Instead of dwelling on it, she changed the subject. "Yesterday when I was helping you in the warp room, you told me you had made modifications to the warp field generators. Isn't that dangerous?"

  "Space travel is dangerous. Just ask Cyrus."

  "I know that, but modifying something that you don't understand seems foolhardy."

  "Who says I don't understand the technology?"

  "Do you?" she asked, hopeful she had finally stumbled onto one of the Krim Sprinter's secrets. Not even the scientists who studied warp field generators understood them—they could only reproduce them.

  "Well, no," Belzaire admitted. "But my people invented the technology before we almost became extinct. Who better to rediscover the secrets?"

  "Doesn't that put everyone on the ship at risk?"

  "Of course not," he assured her. "I would never do that. Mitch, Cyrus, and I test all modifications with an empty ship."

  "The captain tests them with you?"

 
; "Of course," he said. "The captain would never ask one of us to do something he isn't willing to do himself."

  "Hmm." A small piece of the Mitch Cooper puzzle slid into place for Violet. "I'm starting to see why the crew is so loyal."

  "There isn't a member of the crew that wouldn't risk their lives for Mitch," Belzaire agreed. "And him for us."

  For the next hour, Belzaire told her about his time on the Krim Sprinter and his experiences with the captain. They all pretty much had one thing in common: the Krim Sprinter pushed the boundaries of what was possible...and legal.

  When Violet returned to her room, she knew she was truly becoming part of the crew. And she couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

  THE CREW of the Krim Sprinter gathered at Mozzie's again the next day for lunch. The captain wasn't present, but that didn't prevent them from being treated like royalty. Colin was more than qualified to order up one of the finest meals available in the galaxy. They were finishing the main course when Mitch finally showed up, clearly in a very good mood.

  The captain dropped a large piece of paper—it looked like a star chart—and started filling a plate. Cyrus reached across the table and grabbed the paper.

  "Twenty-seven niakrim deposits?" Cyrus questioned. "That's every deposit on the list the vice-admiral sent us, plus thirteen more."

  "You expected less?" Mitch asked with a self-satisfied smile. "And I acquired an experimental mining robot."

  "And how much did this one cost us?" Colin asked with a roll of his eyes.

  "Nothing. We're testing it."

  "So the inventor is too scared to test it himself?" Colin stated more than asked.

  "Pretty much."

  "How does it work?" Cyrus asked, clearly interested in the potentially lethal invention.

  "Not sure," Mitch said as he stuffed another forkful into is mouth. "Something about shooting a photon torpedo into a hole and blowing up the entire deposit. Little drones collect all the niakrim as it floats into space."

  "That's madness," Colin insisted. "We'll lose half the deposit."

  "But we'll get the other half," Mitch said triumphantly.