Exodus: Machine War 1 Supernova. (36 page)
“But it would
not be our achievements that got us there. Merely our mimicking of yours.”
“Or you can sit
here with your pride for company,” said Wittmore, leaning forward in his seat,
which creaked under the weight of his armor, despite its grabbers taking some
of its mass in hand. “And you can wait for things with no feelings, and no
compassion, to come to your world. You will be at the mercy of things without
any, who will consider you the enemy merely because you are alive.”
The Klassekian
sat there with a look of concentration that told the humans he was communing
with his brothers through their quantum entangled minds. He sat there for some
minutes, and the humans gave him his time, realizing that this was an important
part of the decision making process. Finally, he opened his eyes
“And if I don’t
cooperate with you? Will you then leave us alone?”
“We can’t do
that,” said Hasslehoff in a soft voice. “We can’t abandon you to that kind of
fate.”
“And we would
just have to choose someone else to back,” said the General. “We would prefer
you and your people.”
“And my brother,
the General, would kill me if I let you do that,” said the First Councilman in
a quiet voice. “So I guess I had better accept your offer, and let him become
the next military hero of our nation’s, no, our world’s history.”
Epilogue
FEBRUARY 13
TH
, 1002.
Commodore
Natasha Khrushchev breathed a sigh of relief as
Francis Drake
slid
through the hole in the dimensions and entered normal space. Most of the
convoy was already through, only a few remaining to make the crossover.
Mihn
Quan,
as the fastest ship in the convoy, had run ahead to make translation
six hours before the rest of the ships, conveying Khrushchev’s reports.
Endurance
,
not able to drop out of hyper VI due to her damage, had been evacuated and
scuttled, but every other ship that had made it through the battle was still
with them.
The tactical
holo filled in with information on the system, based on the graviton emissions
of the vessels in movement. An instant later the electromagnetic spectrum
filled in the rest of the system, visual, broadcast, neutron and neutrino
emissions. The K class primary, really a tweener almost into the range of G,
was centered on the holo, two and a half light hours away. A ring of
antimatter production satellites orbited close to the star, while a couple of
tankers moved to and fro from the production facilities to shipyards.
There were a
couple of barren planets close to the star, then the one planet worth anything
ten light minutes out.
Tethys
was an almost habitable planet, one that
had supported life before an asteroid strike has wiped it out ten thousand
years before. Now it was in the middle stages of terraforming, and would soon,
within five years or so, become the rest and recreation center of the system.
Bolthole
base
was about one and a quarter light hours in from the hyper I barrier, in the
first of the system’s asteroid belts. The asteroid was about twelve hundred
kilometers in diameter, a little larger than Ceres in the Sol system, but was
much more massive. Mostly of metallic composition, with only a three kilometer
thick crust of rock, carbon compounds and water ice over that huge core, the
planetoid actually had a gravity of approximately point one three Earth normal.
Twenty-eight
other objects were in orbit around the planetoid, twenty-two medium sized
asteroids being used for construction materials, two habitats, and six docks;
two completed, four still under assembly. Two score ships were also in orbit
around the base, including twelve warships.
Further out were
the gas giants and the second of the two asteroid belts, and furthest were two
frozen rocky planets, one of which was the subject of extensive activity as a
supermetal production facility was under construction.
“Grav pulse
signal coming in from system command,” reported the Com Officer. “From Admiral
Gonzales.”
“Go ahead.”
“She wants to
meet with you as soon as you get to the base. And
Drake
and
New
Potsdam
are cleared for dock space as soon as they reach
Bolthole.
”
Khrushchev
nodded. It made sense to get the two ships up to combat effectiveness as soon
as possible. Looking over the lists of ships on her side holo, she realized
that the system defense, while sufficient to defend against pirates or other
low level threats, was probably not strong enough to defeat what she suspected
was waiting in the dark.
* * *
The vessel sat
ten light hours outside the hyper I barrier, watching, listening. It picked
up the coming of the convoy as it transited through the dimensions from hyper
VI down to I, and into normal space. The vessel identified the ships by their
emissions, then waited for the visual confirmation before sending the amendment
to its report on system defenses to the courier group waiting two light weeks
further out. The com laser was undetectable by anything that didn’t happen to
wander in the way. And this far out, that was more than unlikely. When the
com beam reached its target one of the couriers would jump into hyper I and
creep away, well outside of the range that something in the system could pick
up the translation.
All of this
took time, but the brains operating the ships were patient if nothing else.
And soon their patience would pay off.
The End
Doug Dandridge
is the author of over twenty self-published books on Amazon, including the very
successful, Exodus: Empires at War series, the Refuge techno-fantasy series,
The Deep Dark Well Trilogy, as well as numerous standalone science fiction and
fantasy novels. In a two year period as a self-published author, Doug has sold
over one hundred thousand ebooks, plus numerous copies of paperback and audio
books. He has amassed over 1,700 reviews across his books on Amazon, with a
4.6 star average. He served in the US Army as an infantryman, as well as
several years in the Florida National Guard in the same MOS. Doug, who holds
degrees from Florida State University and the University of Alabama, lives with
his five cats in Tallahassee Florida. He is a sports enthusiast and a
self-proclaimed amateur military historian.
The Prometheus Saga
is the premier project of the Alvarium
Experiment, a consortium of accomplished and award-winning authors. The
Saga
spans the range of the existence of
Homo sapiens
. The stories do not
need to be read in any particular order; each story is an entry point into the
overall story.
The Prometheus Saga
stories & authors are:
“The Pisces
Affair”
by Daco Auffenorde. CIA operative Jordan Jakes meets
Prometheus when the Secretary of State becomes the target of a terrorist attack
at a head-of-state dinner in Dubai. Visit Daco at
www.authordaco.com
.
“On Both
Sides”
by Bria Burton. When a mysterious woman vanishes during
the American Revolution, young Robby Freeman searches for answers from a
cryptic sharpshooter who deserted Washington’s Continental Army. Visit Bria at
www.briaburton.com
.
“Ever
After”
by M.J. Carlson. Two mysterious women convey the same
Cinderella story to Giambattista Basile in 1594 and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in
1811. How different cultures retell this story reveals humanity’s soul to those
who listen. Visit M.J. at
www.mjcarlson.com
.
“
The
Blurred Man
”
by Bard Constantine. FBI agent Dylan Plumm's
investigation of a mill explosion puts her on the trail of the Blurred Man, a
mysterious individual who may have been on Earth for centuries. The case turns
deadlier at every turn, placing Dylan in the crosshairs of shadowy antagonists
even as she unravels a centuries-old mystery. Visit Bard at
www.barwritesbooks.com
“Crystal
Night”
by Charles A. Cornell. Berlin, 1938. On the eve of one of
history’s darkest moments, a Swedish bartender working in Nazi Germany
accidentally uncovers a woman’s hidden past. Can he avoid becoming an
accomplice as the Holocaust accelerates? Visit Charles at
www.charlesacornell.com
.
“Marathon”
by Doug Dandridge. Prometheus, posing as a citizen of Athens, participates in
the battle of Marathon alongside the playwright Aeschylus. Visit Doug at
www.dougdandridge.net
.
“The
Strange Case of Lord Byron’s Lover”
by Parker Francis. Writing
in her journal, Mary Shelley recounts a series of perplexing events during her
visit with Lord Byron—a visit that resulted in the creation of her famous
Frankenstein novel, but also uncovered a remarkable mystery. Visit Parker at
www.parkerfrancis.com
.
“
Strangers
on a Plane
”
by Kay Kendall. In 1969 during a flight across North
America, a young mother traveling with her infant meets an elderly woman who
displays unusual powers. But when a catastrophe threatens, are those powers
strong enough to avert disaster? This short story folds into Kay’s mystery series
featuring the young woman, amateur sleuth Austin Starr. Visit Kay at
www.kaykendallauthor.com
.
“East of
the Sun”
by Jade Kerrion. Through a mysterious map depicting
far-flung lands, a Chinese sailor in 1424 and a Portuguese cartographer in 1519
share a vision of an Earth far greater than the reality they know. Visit Jade
at
www.jadekerrion.com
.
“Manteo”
by Elle Andrews Patt. In 1587, Croatan native Manteo returns from London to
Roanoke Island, Virginia. Can he reconcile his strong loyalty to the untamed
land and people of his home with his desire for the benefits the colonizing English
bring with them before one of them destroys the other? Visit Elle at
www.elleandrewspatt.com
.
“First
World War”
by Ken Pelham. 40,000 BC: As the last remaining species
of hominid,
Homo sapiens
and
Homo neanderthalensis
, fight a
desperate battle for ownership of the future, the outcasts of both sides find
themselves caught in middle. Visit Ken at
www.kenpelham.com
.
“Lilith”
by Antonio Simon, Jr. In this retelling of the Adam & Eve story, a hermit’s
life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a mysterious woman in his camp. As
the story of their portentous meeting carries forward through the millennia,
only time will tell if Lilith is a heroine, a victim, or a monster. Visit
Antonio at
www.DarkwaterSyndicate.com
.
“Fifteen
Dollars’ Guilt”
by Antonio Simon, Jr. 1881: After a close brush
with death in a steamship disaster, Prometheus encounters another survivor who
gripes about how aimless his life has become. Prometheus helps him find his
calling, inadvertently setting in motion the assassination of President
Garfield. Visit Antonio at
www.DarkwaterSyndicate.com
.
For additional info about the
stories and authors, visit the official website:
The Prometheus Saga
TARGETS ARE LOCKED!
Five short novels by five masters of military SF
capture the excitement, and hell, of fantastic future war—on and off the
battlefield. Stories of terrifying monsters, dangerous aliens and staggering
cosmic dreadnaughts march alongside far-flung courtroom dramas and cautionary
tales involving man and his devices.
Michael A. Stackpole—The Star Tigers are commandeered by a
powerful alien overseer on a covert mission to a world long abandoned by an
ancient species. There, the ruins of a forgotten war will tip the balance of
their war, unless the Star Tigers can prevent it.
Sarah A. Hoyt—Lucius Dante Maximilian Keeva is a
well-respected leader of the Usaian Revolution, but treason in the ranks can
cost him everything that makes life worth living—unless he takes justice into
his own hands and breaks every military regulation in its pursuit.
Doug Dandridge—Faced with an enemy more than two
hundred times her own size, Cinda Klerk has two options: hide, and let it
destroy the planet she is supposed to protect, or find a way to even the odds
and kill the enemy, even at the cost of her ship and crew.
Eytan Kollin and Dani Kollin—As the
Unincorporated War envelops the entire solar system, a father must come to the
rescue of a daughter he never raised. But he'll have to convince her to save
herself first.
Kevin J. Anderson—In the war against an alien
menace, Earth’s greatest military commanders risk themselves on the front
lines, but with an escape hatch: If the situation goes terribly wrong, they can
switch places with a safe soldier far from the battlefield. But the
cannon-fodder volunteers don’t consider that such a good deal.
Set your cross-hairs on the Target Zone.
Excerpt from Goliath:
“We have a translation, from the
hyper VII dimension down to VI,” called out the Sensory Officer, Ensign Emile
Schmidt, in his soft New Berliner accent.
“Ours, or theirs?” asked Lt.
Commander Cinda Klerk, watching the tactical holo and dreading the answer. She
was not a large woman, in fact, the captain’s chair still felt too big when she
sat in it. And she had the kind of face that attracted men, which she saw as a
detriment to her career, not letting her fit the image of the warrior woman.
“Theirs,” answered Schmidt, a look
of anxiety, no, fear showing on his face. “And it’s a big one. Twenty million
tons or more.”
It would be,
thought Cinda,
the captain of the HIMS
Joel Schumacher
, one of the only two hyper
capable warships in the system. She was the largest ship assigned to the
Compton system. There were two more ships, both non-hyper vessels of similar
class.
Schumacher
was the most massive of the three ships due to her
carrying the extra mass of a hyperdrive. At a hundred thousand tons she was
not the smallest hyper capable vessel in the Imperial Fleet. The couriers and
fast attack ships were much smaller, as were attack fighters, though only the
fast messengers were capable of reaching hyperspace on their own. Still, they
were facing the prospect of a visit by a twenty five million ton battleship,
over two hundred and fifty times her own mass.
And we’re more suited to going
head to head with pirates
,
thought the Cinda. That was exactly what
her ship had been envisioned to take on, either hunting them, or protecting
merchant traffic. It was ludicrous at best to station her in a system as a
defense against an opponent whose smallest warship was in the six hundred thousand
ton range. Especially with the special orders that came down from the Emperor
himself.
Cinda pulled up a side holo and
stared at the comp representation of the enemy that was en route. An image
originally taken thousands of years before.
They haven’t changed
,
she thought, looking at the figure of a tall, furred biped, standing on two
strong legs, double shoulders extending from the torso supporting four arms.
The head was the horror, a medium muzzled, red eyed carnivore with sharp teeth
showing in a grin, two large horns growing from the top of the skull. The
creature stood three meters tall sans the horns, and looked very much like the
demons of some human religions.
“We’re receiving a gravity pulse
from
New Kiev
,” said the Com Officer, a young man who looked like he had
just walked out of the doors of the academy. “Her captain is ordering us to
support them in an action against that warship.”