Resolve of Steel (Halloran's War Book 2)

by J. R. Geoghan

  The communications tech called. “Sir! We’re being hailed.”

  “By who?”

  “By the station, sir.”

  Heres lifted both eyebrows in surprise. “Accept.”

  The monitor lit up and there was the human, Halloran. The man still wore those odd green mottled colors. His cap was the same material.

  “Captain. Heres, correct?”

  Heres crossed his arms. “Prepare to be fired upon, sir.”

  “How about not?”

  The rogue captain wasn’t behaving according to plan. “I have orders,” Heres began.

  Halloran held up a hand. “Wait, Captain. What if I…what if I told you we had an, um, historic opportunity here?”

  “You have ten seconds, Halloran.”

  The other nodded. “I have made contact with the Prax Premier—their leader. We have reached an understanding.” Halloran looked offscreen and nodded again. Moments later, a large Prax in a very official uniform joined him in view. “Heres,” Halloran said, “This is Krex. He is the Premier of the Praxxan Empire.”

  Renno gasped from her seat, as did several others on the bridge.

  “You’re not serious, Halloran.” Heres was stunned.

  “Captain, he is quite serious,” spoke the alien who dominated the conversation with his deep voice. “Your Captain Halloran is an able representative of your people. He has prevailed upon me with the notion of a combined effort to rectify an internal struggle within my people.” He lifted a hand at Heres. “A struggle that you and your crew would earn much honor across the galaxy for assisting us with.”

  “Um,” was all Heres could manage.

  “Heres,” came a new voice from offscreen. Then, incredibly, Kendra was standing there. “You know you want to get into the action.”

  “Kendra, what—.”

  She pointed at him. “Get over here and listen to this! You know me, Heres…” Then, that maddening grin split her face. “…And I know you.”

  “Is this all..real, Kendra?” Heres was staring.

  She shrugged. “You know me, always finding trouble.”

  Heres thought and thought—at least a minute while everyone patiently waited. One thing was for sure, and that was that Kendra was telling the truth when she says she’s always finding trouble.

  Heres made a “why not?” face at Renno. She was on the edge of her seat. He glanced at those waiting onscreen. “I’ll be over, Halloran.”

  He motioned for the comms tech to cut the transmission. “Stand down from alert. I’m taking the shuttle over to the station. I’ll take—.”

  “Sir, take me.”

  Heres paused in mid-sentence. “Why, Renno?”

  “I just want to go this time, sir.”

  Heres frowned, then nodded. “You’re with me, Renno. Haster has the ship, inform Engineering.”

  Renno joined him at the bridge hatch. “Sir, this is going to be big. I can feel it.”

  He snorted as he opened the hatch. But he, too, felt the tug of a new adventure, even if the Prax were involved. The Premier? How could that be, out here in the dead regions of space. There would have to be some serious trouble in the Empire to bring a Premier all the way out here.

  Okay, it did sound like fun.

  “Let’s go with your gut feeling, Renno. I just hope we’re not getting in over our head.”

  “But if Captain Kendra is there, sir…”

  He pointed at her as they tromped up the passage toward the shuttle hangar. “If Kendra is involved, we’ll want to watch our backs every step of the way.”

  Mars - Inner System Sensor Array 231

  The planetary skimmer left a drifting wash of red dust behind as it moved across the plain at high speed. The pilot pressed the small vessel’s speed to the max as though he or she were late for an appointment.

  To Commander Kaela, who stood atop the sensor array superstructure with four techs and a junior officer, the approaching craft indeed represented an appointment. After one more long look at the captivating swath of rust-colored dirt, she turned to the group gathered with her and motioned to the man in charge.

  He came closer, and she could see his ashen face behind the transparency of the EXP suit.

  She tapped his shield. “He’s here. You and your people take care of the work while I go down.”

  He looked nervous, and Kaela thought she caught a glimpse of sweat matting the man’s hair to his forehead. With the cooling system built into the exposure suits, overheating shouldn’t be a problem. She leaned in close so he could see her face clearly. “Are we clear?”

  The man coughed, unnecessarily, into his suit mic. “Yes, Commander. The team…has been thoroughly briefed.”

  “Fine. And you…any concerns? Problems?”

  “Well, Commander…”

  “This is a private channel,” she reminded him.

  “No. No concerns. It just…feels…wrong.”

  She understood and tapped the visor again. “You and your team just do as you’re told.” Without waiting for an answer she turned away, the Martian atmosphere distorting her body’s movements as she stepped lightly down the metal grated stairs to the lower level. As she did so, she switched to another private channel. At the base of the array station, she waited and watched as the skimmer slowed during the last several hundred meters. Even the pilot’s deceleration was precipitous and Kaela had to fight the sudden urge to leap back up the stairs and out of the path of the careening craft. With moments to spare, however, the ship turned and decelerated, ending up mere meters away from the structure. A wash of redness rose around Kaela, matching the redness within her helmet as she experienced a flash of embarrassment. He’s toying with me, she found herself thinking. Seeing if I have the guts to stay standing here. But, thankfully, her feet had remained rooted in place. But had it been terror or bravery?

  Not unexpectedly, Krug himself emerged from the craft’s cockpit. With a laborious show of stepping down to the surface, he ambled over, looking lopsided in his EXP suit. Kaela remained standing as he covered the last few meters; either one of them could have spoken on the reserved channel, even at several kilometers with the point-to-point transmission. But Kaela had decided that if Krug wanted to talk, he’d have to open the conversation. She wondered idly if the work party above had stopped to watch the showy entrance by the Senior Commander.

  The man placed his hands on his hips before her. “A pity. A body like yours shouldn’t be all bottled up in a bulky suit like that.”

  Kaela ignored the comment. “Don’t you think this is suspicious? Why couldn’t we have this conversation back in Command?”

  If Krug could have shrugged through his suit, he would have. “I don’t see any reason to be overly cautious beyond the measures we have already taken. Unless, there is something you know that I don’t?”

  “No, nothing. So why here?”

  He leaned back and she could see him lowering the tinting of his shield. He was looking up at where she’d come from. “Your crew taking care of things?”

  “Yes.” She had one gloved hand on the stair’s metal tube rail, finding herself interested in getting away from Krug. Again.

  “Excellent.” He leaned in toward her. “The timetable has been revealed to me.”

  Kaela felt her breath sucked away, despite the continuous flow of air around her face within the suit.

  “The Prime has communicated, now we have only to put the final pieces into place for him.”

  “Please share, Commander.”

  He waved a careless hand. “Need to know, Commander. Need to know.”

  She was feeling the shield steaming up from her rising temperature. Although it wasn’t. “I think I’ve put as much into this as anyone…you, even.”

  “Yes, yes, your dear father, the great Admiral Kendall.” She heard Krug’s derision clearly. “He and his fellow bureaucrats will get their war—down upon their heads.”

  “When, Krug.” Her mic amplified the flatness in her to
ne.

  He relented, attempting to place a hand on her shoulder. She pulled back from sudden disgust. “Now, Commander, your efforts have indeed been instrumental and those you have turned to our cause will all be recompensed.”

  “As you promised.”

  His helmet bobbed slightly. “As promised. All is in readiness?”

  She considered. The three teams of co-opted personnel had been through all the main sensor relays, reprogramming the CPUs and setting failsafes in the guise of routine maintenance. The initial trial runs—on the Lunar sensors, which were of similar equipment—had gone flawlessly. So much so that it had landed her in a disciplinary process.

  “Commander?”

  Kaela nodded within her helmet. “We will be ready. Timeline?”

  “Days, Commander. No more than a few days. Be ready.”

  “And our people will be protected?”

  “That, my dear, is up to you…and me.” He pointed at her, the leer clearly visible inside the shield.

  She stepped back. “Then I’ll put the last pieces in place and wait for your notification.”

  She heard his chuckle. “Very brave of you, standing here stock-still as I came crashing up. I didn’t think you had it in you. More your sister’s style, no?”

  “If you mean reckless disregard for her life and those around her, then yes.”

  He turned back toward his skimmer, where a timid-looking pilot was now poking his head out. “I know you have a soft spot for your Kendra. You don’t fool me for a minute.” He reached the hatch and turned back to her, but she was unable to see anything inside the helmet at that distance. “Just remember, I can bring you down with one word, now, Commander. When the time comes, you execute on the plan. Or your pitiful showcase career will end in infamy and the undying hatred of your own race.” He climbed into the craft and Kaela heard the channel close with a chirp in her ear.

  As Krug moved off in a burst of billowing dust toward the red horizon, Kaela grasped the metal rail as if for strength and support, despite the lack of Martian wind. Every time she interacted with the man, she felt drained of all resolve in her own competency. The hard work she’d put into getting here.

  No, she didn’t hate her sister. In fact, it was quite the reverse. But, she was ready to embrace her own destiny as humanity’s savior.

  “Commander?” The junior officer called down. “We’re about ready here.”

  “Good. Get everyone back in the shuttle—I want to be at Command in time for the evening meal.” And to start her final-countdown planning, if Krug’s warning was to be taken at face value.

  When the fleet of Praxxan warship began their stealth bombardment, the humans here will never know what hit them, she thought as she made her way to the waiting ship. It will be glorious.

  What Price Victory

  I hope you enjoyed “Resolve of Steel” - please follow this link to leave me a review where you purchased it! This really helps my readership grow.

  The die is cast. Treachery runs deep as the century-old war between humans and aliens boils over. Will one rogue time-transplanted Captain and his beleaguered crew tip the scales in favor of victory? And at what cost will they find their way home?

  Watch for the thrilling conclusion to the “Halloran’s War” first Trilogy coming in summer 2019 from author J.R. Geoghan!

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  I hope you enjoyed the story - please follow this link to leave me a review where you purchased it! This really helps my readership grow.

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  About the Author

  J.R. Geoghan resides in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with his family and loves writing and fast motorcycles. He grew up on Long Island, New York in the roaring seventies. Somewhere along the way Jeff picked up a knack and a love of writing that decided to reassert itself after the lingering effects of a management MBA wore off…many years later.

  www.JRGeoghan.com