Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Other Titles
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chatper Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Eight
Chapter Twenty Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty One
Chapter Thirty Two
Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Four
Chapter Thirty Five
Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter Thirty Seven
Chapter Thirty Eight
Chapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty One
Chapter Forty Two
Chapter Forty Three
Chapter Forty Four
Chapter Forty Five
Chapter Forty Six
Chapter Forty Seven
Chapter Forty Eight
Join Team 6K
About the Author
Copyright © 2019 by Robert Wagner
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
https://6kpress.com/
Dedication
To my wife, who always makes this possible, Rhonda for her proofreads, and for all of you dear readers.
Special thanks to Star Wars, Star Trek, and all those great Sci-Fi books, shows, and movies. Without you, space wouldn't be as exciting.
Titles Available from 6K Press
Fantasy
Assault Against the Heavens
Zombie/Post Apocalypse
Safe Haven
Purgatory
Dead of Winter
Dauntless hung in orbit over the planet like an ornament among the backdrop of the solar system. A small speck in the greater cosmos around it. Herra sat at the flight controls, monitoring the ship's position, making sure they were above the atmosphere but close enough to it that Zayan could take his readings from the planet below them. She wanted to make efficient use of the fuel supply by optimizing all the forces playing on her ship, always trying to top her previous record.
She had her long hair, black as the void an old boyfriend called it, pulled into a tight ponytail, like she always did when she was flying. A few of her other lovers called it as black as her heart. That always made her laugh. They always tried to ground her but she had places to explorer. New opportunities to discover. Her hair was slick, not a strand stood out of place. Her tall, statuesque frame was fit snugly into the pilot's chair. To anybody looking at her, she looked cramped in the small space but to her it was where she felt most comfortable.
Herra looked out the big, transparent window straight ahead of her. The planet dominated her view. She could see the thick, white clouds of the planet roiling and boiling below. She thought it looked like quite a storm was brewing. Since they had just came into the system, that storm could be anything from rain water to sulfuric acid. They would soon learn.
Beside her she could hear Zayan tapping away as she directed the probe launched by the Dauntless. It took in readings of atmospheric composition, pressure, and temperature. The usual rounds of reading that would tell Herra if the planet was worth exploring further. As a freelancer, she was always looking for that next big discovery she could sell to the highest bidder back on Earth.
Herra still wasn't too sure about how Zayan would fit in with the rest of the crew. Virgil, Hui, Sanford, all had been with her for years. Zayan was the new kid, almost literally. He was a good ten years younger than anyone else and still had the "wide eyed wonderment of the universe" thing going on. The thrill of just being out in space, she knew all about that.
"How're the readings going?" Herra called back over her shoulders.
"The wind speeds are more higher than I anticipated. I'm compensating, but I've spent more time than I'd liked fighting controls." Herra had to listen intently to make sure she caught everything he was saying through his Afro-Eastern accent.
Herra pursed her lips. She was taking a big gamble on Zayan. Her last exoplanet specialist, Tian, had gotten pregnant. She wanted to leave and settle down, even though she still hadn't fulfilled her contract. Sanford talked Herra into letting her out of it. His exact words were "Don't be a cold hearted ice queen." They went to Zimba to drop Tian off and Herra send out a contract for the now vacant position. Zayan meet the qualifications, and more importantly to Herra, she was able to negotiate his salary at half of what Tian was getting. That would free up her cash flow to get some much needed repairs to her ship.
Herra ever so gently pushed forward one of the two flight sticks and squeezed the thumb trigger, firing the thrusters. The maneuver was so precise she could barely feel the ship move under her. She was so in tune with the Dauntless that she was sure the others didn't even notice the adjustments. She looked down at her board, smiling in satisfaction at herself. As of that moment she was running at .08 percent under her previous number in fuel consumption.
As she waited on Zayan, she let herself imagine what the planet could be like under all that cloud cover. Would it be lush and full of life, like Earth? Would it be a mostly water covered world with a few small continents like the Ishala's homeworld? Or could it be like the last big discovery she had made? That was a big payday. One that was desperately needed too. Even the normally laid back Dr. Chen had begun berating her about getting paid. They were still cruising on that payday but things were starting to get tight again. It was tough maintaining a starship and its crew but to her all the crap she dealt with was worth it for the independence it gave her.
"Anything yet Zayan?" She tried to keep the impatience out of her voice. By now Tian would have had all the data collected and analyzed so Herra could decide her next step. They had already been in orbit for seventy minutes.
"The upper atmospheric speeds are in the hundreds. Mostly made up of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Very little oxygen. Temperatures are already a little on the high side." Zayan's voice sounded strained. He must really be pouring his concentration into his work, Herra thought. "Right now it doesn't look promising. I'm dropping the probe down to eight thousand meters now."
"Alright. Just be careful you don't crash it into a mountain, okay?"
Damn. From her experience Zayan was right, this wasn't sounding too good. This was the only planet in the Goldilocks zone for this system. If it was a wash for colonization, then there went the big score. It was still possible the planet could be tagged for its resources, if the conditions weren't too extreme to make that cost prohibited. If that were the case, they would still make money but it would be a small fraction of what they could have earned. It would have made her so happy to have had two habitable planetary discoveries in a row. To have a m
oney cushion for a change. Ha, for the first time ever you mean?
After another eighty minutes, Herra accepted that the planet was a bust. The oxygen levels and surface temperatures were just out of the acceptable level for human life. There were indications that the planet would be a good candidate for mining as there wasn't any life reading beyond the microscopic level and the planet was pretty active with volcanic activities. So with a fleet of robots someone could come in and make a profit off the planet. The only problem was it was two jumps away from the lane, making what money she could get out of selling its data and location that much less.
"Call the probe back up, Zayan. Time to pack it in and move on to the next system. Good work."
Once the probe reattached to the hull, Herra sent bitter thoughts at the planet below. She turned both flight sticks and pointed the Dauntless to the edge of the solar system.
Setting the Dauntless on autopilot, Herra unfolded herself out of her seat and stretched. Her fingertips grazed along the top of the cabin. She congratulated herself on at least staying .02 percent improved from her efficiency rating of the last planet they orbited.
Zayan had already left the his station, taking a pad with him to continue analyzing the data he collected. Herra thought it commendable that he showed an effort to put in the hard work to impress her. It was what she expected. She was about to leave through the doorway when Virgil stepped in, blocking her way.
"Since we seem to be leaving, I have to assume the planet was no good?"
Herra shook her head. "We'll just have to push on to the next one."
"How many jumps off the beaten path are we going this time?" Virgil tried to sound casual but Herra knew him long enough to pick up the challenge hidden underneath.
"Virgil, I'm not in the mood right now. That run took longer than I expected. I'm hungry." She moved to push past him.
Virgil put his hands up in faint protest. Since he was a few inches shorter than her and had a flabby physique, he had to look up at her while sucking in his stomach as she passed. Still he kept his brown short hair and even shorter beard well groomed. Unlike most techies she'd met."I'm just curious is all, Commander."
The "Commander" bit was a sarcastic joke that Virgil started. She had no military training or background. She'd gone to flight school which was a loan which she still paid on when she could, but he had taken to calling her that not long after she had brought on board years ago. He claimed he didn't know, since the way she barked orders was like a commander. The others she had brought on since thought he was being serious and followed his lead. She took the name and wore it with pride, which she knew irked Virgil to no end.
She passed him and went down the short hallway that led to the central living area. She thought about just ignoring him but she turned around instead. "Why do you want to know? Is there something wrong with the ship? You need some parts to fix it?"
"There's always something wrong with this ship." A smirk crossed his face. "I know you though and she'll hold together and get us to whatever wild destination you have in mind next."
She smiled her best smile, one that always got attention from men. "Good. I'm not sure where we're headed to next. After lunch I'm going to discuss it with Hui. When we entered the system, she said her quick scan detected two possible wormhole sites. Maybe will just end up flipping a coin. Right now I have the autopilot taking us to a point that is an equal distance from both. You going to take over the helm?" Even though he was ships engineer, he was a fairly decent pilot.
Virgil shook his head in an exasperated way. "Diagnostics. I wouldn't think of touching your precious joysticks without permission. Even though you know I'd like to."
The way he said it sounded dirty. That was Virgil. No one else dared talk to her that way. She ignored the comment and gave him a curt, "Carry on then."
She walked off, not even double checking if he went into the flight cabin. He might rib her and joke around, but he did take his job seriously. She thought he secretly loved the ship just as much as she did. He always mock threatened about leaving her and getting a ship of his own, once he saved up the money. Yet he's been with her for what, six years now? Herra shook her head.
The hallway opened up into the commons area. There was a small bench in the middle. Along the left wall was the kitchen area. Herra pulled a freeze dried nutrition pack from cold storage, put it in the microwave, and set it for ten seconds. Once it beeped she pulled the bar out, sat down, and took a bite. Every time she ate she tried to slow down and enjoy whatever it was but she always failed. Three bites later it was gone and she wasn't even sure she knew what the flavor was.
She got up and filled up a pint sized tin cup with water. She swished the water around in her mouth two times before swallowing it. She then sat back down at the bench and wondered what to do next.
It would be eight hours until they reached the edge of the system. Herra didn't know how it did it back in the old days. She had named her ship after the original Dauntless, the one that first discovered the wormholes. It had taken that ship three years to go from Earth to just beyond Pluto. Three years, stuck on a ship no bigger than the one she flew now. Her Dauntless was a medium sized exploration vessel, cruiser class. The big carriers like the major corporations used would take even longer to cross the same distance as her ship. Still, it would be measured in days at the most, not years. Those astronauts back then were brave, patient, and crazy.
She felt too bummed about their lack of finding a good planet to go back and fall asleep in her bunk. She wanted to talk to Hui but it was too early. She liked to work crazy late into the "night" while everyone else slept. Hui had went to bed right after making her scan when they hit the system. It'd be about another hour before she was up. This down time was always the hardest part about being an independent explorer. The waiting. She toyed with the idea of going back up to the cabin and annoying Virgil. Not really feeling up for that though, she instead settled on going back to her room and trying to distract herself with a book.
Another short hall went down the spine of the ship to the crew's quarters. Each was a little square with a bunk built into the wall, a metal desk and chair, and a porthole to look out into space. They didn't build ships with that last feature anymore. Dauntless was an old TY cruiser, the new ones had viewscreen instead. More cost effective and there's less chance of dangerous decompression.
There were three doors on the left, and three doors on the right. One of the rooms was unoccupied, it had been since she bought the ship. Herra never had the money to run it fully crewed. Just like she thought the first door to the left, Hui's room, was shut. Virgil's room across the hall was of course empty. Next on her left was her room. Across the hall from her was Dr. Sanford. He was at his desk, concentrating so intently at the computer screen sitting on it he didn't even acknowledge she was there. The last room on the right was now Zayan's.
Herra slipped into her room and pushed the button on the wall to lock the door. It slid shut and clicked. Herra looked around at the sparse space and went over to the porthole. She had to duck down in an uncomfortable way to see out of it. On her side was the planet they'd left. She watched the yellowish tinted sphere rapidly shrink away. Beyond it, tiny pins of light glided across the sky. That was the only thing that gave any indication of the incredible speeds they were going.
Her back began to spasm, meaning she spent far longer looking out the window than she meant to. Rubbing it, she sat down at her desk. She grabbed her pad, tilted back the chair, and put her booted feet up on the desk. The word on the screen slid by her eyes. The next thing she knew, the speaker in the wall was bleating at her. Three tones. That meant the bridge needed her. She couldn't fathom what warranted her attention way out here in this nowhere system. Happy to have something to do, she jumped up and lightly tossing her pad back down on the desk.
When Herra got back up to the flight cabin, Virgil was sitting in her spot. He flipped off the overhead switch when he saw her enter. She cough
ed to get his attention. Virgil smiled sheepishly and stood up.
"What'd you do to my ship?" Herra slipped into her chair, the most comfortable place in the universe.
He didn't respond to her chiding. Instead, he moved over into the chair next to her and tapped on the screen. He slid his finger up the screen which raised the volume. The cabin filled with a noise that for some reason made Herra feel uneasy. It sounded like it a language. It had a pattern to it that made her jump to that conclusion. Why did it make her feel so unsettled then?
"Okay, Virgil. What is that?"
"I don't know. That's why I called you up, Commander. I was checking the boards when it lit up saying we had an incoming signal. I listened to it for several minutes. I could swear it repeats itself. Like it's on a loop."
"A distress signal?"
"What's going on?" A sleepy almost whispering voice came from behind them. Chen was standing in the doorway. She had her wrinkled slacks and flowery blouse on and held a steaming cup in one hand. The other hand she held against the wall.
"We've picked up a strange signal," Herra informed her.
Herra pointed at Virgil and he swiped the volume to maximum level. Whatever they picked up played for a few minutes in silence. Herra thought Virgil was right, it sounded like a signal. It wasn't human or Ishalan. Not unless the signal was going through some serious degradation before it reached them.
"Pirates?" Virgil sounded unconvinced, even as he asked.
"I wouldn't think so. We're not near the lanes." It was a trick they employed and if it was pirates, the Dauntless could handle itself. She had a friend of a friend install two military grade Techroy laser cannons on her years back. If anyone attacked her, they'd get a nasty surprise.
"It doesn't sound like Ishalan," Chen chimed in.
"That thought already crossed my mind, Chen. That means..." It took over one hundred years of exploration before humans had come across the Ishalan. By that time just about everyone had come to believe humans were the only intelligent life in the universe. Then came the discovery of an Ishalan ship which nearly ran into an Earth vessel as they both crossed the same wormhole. The Ishalan were just as surprised as the humans were. They had been out among the stars even longer and had never find any advanced alien species. That was forty five years ago, fourteen years before Herra had even been born. Could this be a new alien race they just discovered?
Dauntless- Exploration Class Page 1
