by C H Gideon
“That’s correct,” Reynolds replied. “We are tasked by Former Empress Bethany Anne to seek out Kurtherians, an ancestral enemy of humanity. We’ve come here only because we caught wind of Kurtherian activity in the area.”
“We know nothing of these Kurtherians,” Nor Kan said, “Nor of your Bethany Anne.”
Jiya stood, offering a shallow bow. “We would also like to establish a compact between the Loranian people and ours,” she announced. “We could use a safe haven to dock when we are in the system and purchase supplies. We are willing to exchange limited technical knowledge for such a deal.”
“We have a similar deal with those of Lariest,” Reynolds added, “And we would like to add your planet as a sanctuary, should we need such.”
“I’m not sure you’ll find many systems nearby willing to trade with you, I’m afraid,” Zal’a told him.
Reynolds stiffened. “Why’s that?”
“Much like our Captain Asya here heard, leading to the unfortunate confrontation between you and our fleet, there is much chatter that you are a dangerous species bent on the destruction of all you come across.”
“There are words, and there are deeds. Those gossiping about the great alien ship do so in fear. We said what we were going to do, and then we did it. That is the foundation of trust,” Jiya explained.
“Your actions showed us differently, of course,” Zal’a acknowledged, “but I’m afraid the word is already spreading.”
“We will do what we can to disabuse our allies of your supposed hostile nature, but I’m not sure what we can do beyond that,” Artan Sie said, shrugging. “Your example will have to shine the light on your character.”
Reynolds nodded. “That’s the best we can hope for, then,” he told the assemblage, clearly not satisfied that someone was working to impugn their character but seeing no point in arguing. Those who listened to rumors were no better than those who spread them.
“As for the safe haven and supplies, we would be glad to discuss these options with you further,” Zal’a continued.
The discussions went on for several hours after that, Jiya struggling to stay awake as Reynolds and the Loranian government got into the specifics of what equaled what. In the end, the Loranians walked away with more than they gave, and Reynolds got confirmation that they’d offer up any information regarding Kurtherians that they came across.
After what seemed like forever to Jiya, the meeting was called, and Captain Asya came over to see them back to their shuttle. As she walked them out of the building, Jiya noted the entourage of soldiers were no longer crowded around them. They hung back a good distance. Close enough if they were needed, but far enough to not appear hostile.
“I’m glad you came to speak with our parliament,” Captain Asya told them. “It went a long way toward showing them who you really are by coming here personally.”
“I only wish we’d gotten the point across before our confrontation,” Reynolds told her.
“As do I.” She nodded. “But like the president said, someone is spreading the word that you are dangerous and need to be destroyed.” She glanced around as if she were suspicious. “Do you have any enemies nearby?”
“We are newly arrived in this sector, and it seems that fear is running rampant. That, to me, indicates the Kurtherians have preceded us. Misinformation is one of their greatest weapons. Turning allies against each other. Our enemies are secretive, and they could be anywhere,” Reynolds admitted. “We may well have crossed them recently and not even realized it.”
“Well, I’d be careful, since it’s clear they have far-reaching access to have spread such rumors so widely and so quickly. They must be incredibly powerful.”
Reynolds nodded. “They are.”
Captain Asya went silent, leading them back to the shuttle. It was only when the crew was ready to board that she spoke again.
“I apologize for my part in the confusion,” she told them, offering a curt nod to each in turn. “Had I been more receptive, none of this would have happened.”
“No need to apologize,” Jiya told her. “We understand.” She smiled at the captain, doing her best to convey her sincerity.
“Perhaps not, but I still feel honor-bound to do so,” she said. “It is the way of my people to repay a blood debt with service.” She dropped to a knee. “While you had no reason to risk your lives to save my crew or me, you did exactly that. As such, I would be honored to serve at your side and join you in your mission against these Kurtherian enemies.”
“Whoa! That is not necessary, Asya.” Jiya muttered, going to help the captain up. Reynolds grabbed her arm and stopped her, shaking his head.
“While our people have no such expectations of you, Captain,” Reynolds told her, “we would be grateful were you to lend your expertise to our crew.” He offered her his hand.
The captain took it, rising to her feet. “Then we have a compact,” she said, grinning. “I have cleared my intention with the parliament, and they are in agreement—my life in exchange for that of my crew. I am now indebted to you.”
“Did I miss the kneeling ceremony when I got made part of the crew?” Ka’nak asked. “I don’t remember having to kneel. Doesn’t mean I didn’t, mind you.” He smiled broadly as he towered over the others.
Jiya elbowed him in the ribs. He grunted and went quiet.
“Welcome to the crew,” Jiya told the captain as she joined them. “It’ll be an…experience, no doubt about that.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After the crew returned to the SD Reynolds and settled in for the night—Captain Asya having been shown her quarters and given a tour of the ship—Reynolds sat on the quiet bridge with only his thoughts to keep him company.
Fully stocked from Lariest, the ship needed nothing from the Loranians, so they decided to stay only overnight in Loran orbit. He’d given the crew the night off, letting them rest and get comfortable after all they’d been through, but there was little rest for Reynolds.
He couldn’t help but wonder how news of their attack on the Thra’kal scout ship had traveled so quickly and how it had been so misconstrued. He admitted that the attack didn’t look good, boarding after he hailed the fleeing craft, but there was nothing in the gesture that pointed to the SD Reynolds heading up an invasion force.
“A single ship does not an invasion make,” XO said, having clearly been listening in on Reynolds’ thoughts.
“No, it does not, but someone is saying that’s what we’re doing here.”
“Has to be Kurtherians,” Tactical added. “Maybe that’s who built up the security at Dal’las Tri and set up that neural web device.”
“Could be, but wouldn’t we have detected them there?” Reynolds asked. “There were no signs of anyone tapping to the Etheric.”
“Maybe they’ve gotten better at hiding,” XO suggested.
“We were a bit distracted, though,” Comm joined in. “We could have missed something.”
“Anyone with the power to lock down a system like that has to have powerful resources at their beck and call,” XO went on. “They’d likely have communication arrays powerful enough to send out rumors like the ones that reached Loran.”
Reynolds nodded. It all made sense, yet it didn’t.
They’d cost the casino owners a great deal of cash by shutting down their scam and raiding their servers, but there wasn’t an obvious connection to the SD Reynolds anywhere in that.
Someone would have had to have tracked them down as they fled to the shuttle and departed. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be clear where the attack group had come from.
“None of this makes sense,” Reynolds mumbled.
“None of what?” Jiya asked, stumbling onto the bridge with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand.
The bridge lights flickered and came up, Reynolds only then realizing it was morning—time for the crew to return to work.
“Just talking to myself,” Reynolds admitted. He glanced around the bridge as Jiya
settled and thought back to his decision to tractor the Valter and wait while the Loranian fleet pounded the ship.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked her.
“Do what?” Jiya asked.
“This.” He gestured around the ship. “Be a part of the crew, fly off to random galaxies and hunt down Kurtherians? Is this what you see yourself doing?”
Jiya chuckled. “You trying to get rid of me already?”
Reynolds shook his head. “No, I just…” He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “I just wonder if I’m needlessly putting you and the others at risk for my mission. Bethany Anne assigned this task to me, not to anyone else. Although she ordered me to get a crew, she doesn’t know I’ve recruited anyone. I’d hate to have to report back to her that I got a bunch of crew members killed in my zeal.”
Jiya hopped up and came over to stand in front of Reynolds. She set a hand on his metallic shoulder.
“We’re all here by choice, Reynolds,” she told him, meeting his gaze and not letting it drop. “While circumstances were a little questionable at the start,” she said, chuckling, “you know, all that kidnapping crap and whatnot, we’re all where we’re supposed to be, and I speak for the crew when I say that.”
“You don’t speak for me,” Ka’nak said as he trundled onto the bridge. “What are we talking about?”
“Whether we want to stay onboard as part of the crew,” Jiya clarified.
“Oh, that,” Ka’nak mumbled. “Sure. I thought you were discussing breakfast.”
“See?” Jiya asked Reynolds.
The AI grinned. “I guess that answers that, then.”
“Is that a no for breakfast?” Ka’nak pushed, grunting when no one answered him. “I’m off to the mess.”
Maddox walked onto the bridge then, a young woman Reynolds didn’t recognize coming in alongside him. Maddox took his position, and the young woman sat in Helm’s spot.
“Meet your new helm,” Maddox said, eyeing Jiya’s coffee all the while. “You got another one of those hidden around here somewhere? A carafe, maybe?”
Reynolds turned to the woman at the helm and offered her a smile. She returned it, along with a crisp salute.
“Your orders, sir?”
“Take us to the next system, please,” he answered, realizing then that he didn’t even know the woman’s name.
That’s okay, he thought, there’s plenty of time for that.
She was part of the crew, the same as Jiya and the others. He would learn everyone’s name in time because they would make this journey with him. They were his crew now.
They were his family.
“Ready to go at your order, sir,” the youngster at the helm replied.
There was no time like the present to get acquainted. “What’s your name, Helm?”
“Tanirika, sir.”
Reynolds thought for a moment. “In one of the Earth languages, that means ‘a flower.’ Apropos. If you would be so kind, Tanirika, activate the Gate drive and take us to the next stop on our search for the ever-elusive Kurtherians.”
Epilogue
Jora’nal stood in front of the altar, praying.
He had much to be thankful for. Phraim-‘Eh had sent his messenger to him and had given him a path to follow, the path to ascension. Followers had gathered at the hem of his robes to serve him in his mission, spreading the word of the old god Phraim-‘Eh across the universe.
There was much to rejoice about in such a journey.
Word had been spread of the virulent Etheric Federation ship and its crew, and it would carry far ahead of their travels, assuring that Jora’nal’s master was satisfied. The Etheric Federation was an enemy of the old gods, of the beliefs Phraim-‘Eh stood for.
“You did well, Jora’nal,” a new Voice of Phraim-‘Eh told him from the shadows. “Our god is pleased.”
“Thank you, Messenger,” Jora’nal replied, keeping his head low as the Voice approached. “I wish only to serve.”
“And you shall get your chance,” the Voice said, coming up to stand before Jora’nal.
He reached down and raised Jora’nal’s chin so that their eyes met.
Jora’nal gasped at seeing the face of the Messenger so clearly.
The Messenger offered Jora’nal a broad grin, welcoming him to his feet.
“Phraim-‘Eh has another mission for you, child,” he told Jora’nal. “Do you accept?”
“Of course, Messenger.”
“Good,” the Voice said and then explained to Jora’nal the god’s new expectations.
Once the Thra’kali left to do the messenger’s bidding, the Voice pulled his hood from his head and stared out at the empty temple.
Commander Ast grinned as he imagined his plot playing out against the SD Reynolds and its pathetic crew.
Author Notes - Craig Martelle
Written October 8, 2018
Thank you for reading this book and you’re still reading! Oorah, hard chargers. I really hope you liked this story. I was invested in it as soon as Michael Anderle broached the idea. It works for me. It’s classic Star Trek with a twist and then some. I love the premise and the characters and all the good things that go into making a space opera great.
First and foremost, I want to thank Tim Marquitz for helping me get this off the ground. I had four other co-authors for this project which started back in March 2018, but each of them had quirks and issues that were insurmountable. I wanted this story to turn out a certain way and Tim helped me to realize that vision.
Micky Cocker, Kelly O’Donnell, and Dr. James Caplan all provided in process feedback to make sure that the story was sound. They came through. We tweaked some flow and subplots and have what I think is a solid story, but what I think doesn’t matter. It’s what you think, now that you’ve read it. If you would be so kind as to leave a review, I’d appreciate it.
Of course, we always have Michael Anderle, the one who made all of this possible, by broadening the universe that he created so that other authors can fill a galaxy-wide void with stories. It’s a cool thing and we all win, as long as the readers find our stories to be fulfilling, a journey away from everyday issues. Even better than all of the great stories, Michael is my friend and we do spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone.
I live in the sub-arctic and fall has come and gone (it was a long month). Winter is now upon us, but as I write this, we are distinctly lacking in snow, an odd occurrence, but the northern lights are out almost every night when it is clear, which is most nights. That’s the benefit of cool weather in the high desert. Clear skies for the win.
Peace fellow humans.
Superdreadnought 2
Book 2
Chapter One
A vortex opened and the Superdreadnought Reynolds emerged, slipping from the Loranian System and settling into open space. The wormhole stitched back together and faded in the wake of the massive ship.
“We’re here,” the new helm operator—whose name, Reynolds had learned during the transit, was Tanirika ‘Ria’ Alcott—announced unnecessarily.
“Where is ‘here,’ exactly?” Reynolds asked, having decided as they jumped that he would allow the humanoid crew to do their jobs. He thought he would try to not interfere with the basic operations of the ship.
Unless he had to, of course.
Perks of being the captain, right?
“Is that a philosophical question or a geographical one?” Navigation asked from his post. Well, from the speaker above his post seeing as how no one was actually there.
Still in his chrome body, which had replaced the Jonny-taxi android but wasn’t that much of an upgrade, Reynolds rolled his eyes at the question. He thought he heard the orbs squeak in their sockets. Takal would need to get better at creating a long-term home for his intelligence before he burned this one out.
Reynolds had decided that he liked being mobile.
Jiya Lemaire chuckled at Navigation’s question from somewhere behind Reynol
ds. “We’ve landed in the Grindlevik System.” She answered quickly to keep the AI’s banter among himself to a minimum.
She was getting good at playing mediator.
“Say that three times quickly,” Tactical muttered.
“Better yet, don’t,” Reynolds replied.
Jiya sauntered over casually to stand alongside the android body that contained the AI that was Reynolds.
“Jiya, report,” the captain requested.
“Four planets in an elliptical orbit around a pair of suns. The smaller of the suns circles the greater of the two. There’s a gas giant on the other side of the system that’s kicking the scanners off something fierce. The atmosphere is toxic to everyone aboard…”
“Only you meatbags,” Tactical cut in.
“Who need air to live,” Jiya clarified, sliding a hairy eyeball in Tactical’s direction, “and the planet is approximately seventy-five percent liquid,” she reported, then made a sour face. “That liquid happens to be methane, should you want to know.”
“I suggest we skip that one,” Maddox offered from his post.
“I agree,” Reynolds replied. “I’m starting to like having you people around. Would be a shame to lose you so soon.”
“Uh…thanks?” Maddox muttered, watching the screen scroll reams of data.
“There’s another mid-sized planet nearer to us,” Jiya continued, choosing to ignore Reynolds’ comment. “It’s got a pretty harsh atmosphere, too. It has oxygen, but the levels are so low as to be negligible.” She shook of her head. “That one’s out, looks like. There are two planets that scanners report as capable of supporting life. I’m not sure, though. Maybe only one.”
Reynolds had known everything that Jiya reported before she said her first word, but if he were going to make her his first officer, she needed to not only deliver the report but understand what aspects from it were important.
