Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (20 page)

“They may be able to restrict certain
records, Lady Tiana. But there are Programs on Earth who would
ignore the TSB restriction if a high ranking NHA ruling noble
requested the information. The only way they would be able to
restrict a duke or duchess would be with a decree from the king or
emperor,” Lia'Sil responded clearly before Sasha had a chance, then
turned back to Sasha. “This may be the case, Your Grace. I've heard
of certain circumstances where the emperor has required special
proceedings to be recorded, but with the expectation that they
would only be viewed by him, or with his direct permission.” Sasha
shot up in a way that made her nudity very apparent to her
companions. Seeing their blushes, she quickly corrected herself,
trying not to disturb her catillian that once again, began to
stir.

“If during one of these events, something
remarkable happened and the only way for the appropriate parties to
make a satisfactory decision was to see said record, do you think
the Programs would allow its release?” stated Sasha. Lia'Sil
exploded to her feet.

“For a situation like the review of a
recommendation to award the Star of Terra? I believe the Programs
would, but there may be sensitive pieces withheld,” Sasha shifted
in her seat, delighted her deduction made sense, but cringing at
the now awake catillian. She stood with a sigh before he could
start crying, then moved before the projected viewport that showed
the distant stars streaming past the starship, turning to the
expectant ladies.

“We have two parties, both making claims
against the other, and we must deduce who to trust. I believe it is
time we talk with this Program and decide on the appropriate course
of action,” a chorus of agreement greeted her as she uploaded the
Program to the portable PDU....it was time to find the facts.

A colossal wall of grey dust stormed over the
barren plain, lightening crackling and swirling through its crown,
like the cloud itself was the ultimate king of this world. Daniel
could only stare in awe as it approached over the distant horizon,
rolling straight for the colony’s tightly packed housing district.
Screams of terror rose from the inhabitants, bouncing off his ears
as they streamed past him towards safety.

“Where am I?” He asked a young boy who
tripped at his feet, tumbling across the dirt covered ground.

“H-H-He’s coming!” the boy stuttered, eyes
wide with horror as he scurried back into the crowd.

An unworldly wind threw him from his feet as
the wall of dust breached the colonies edge, splitting open to
reveal towering terrors born of nightmare. They crashed through the
crowds, scooping up those who tried to escaped, to bite off their
heads before discarding the limp bodies for the beasts of
opportunity that followed. Terrified, Daniel joined those who fled,
weaving through the narrow alleys, searching desperately for a safe
haven.

A terror rose before him. The crowd
vanishing, leaving Daniel alone to face his fate.

“Trent?” Daniel whispered, finding the
towering terror was none other than the hobo Earthling, smiling
down upon him with eyes of pure menace. Daniel cringed, petrified
in place as Trent’s blood soaked hands swooped towards him from
above.

He shot up as he awoke, panting heavily, skin
covered in a thick layer of sweat.

“Just a dream,” he murmured, finding himself
safe within his quarters on TSB Earth Base. With a relieved sigh,
he fell back upon his pillow, taking a deep, calming breath,
finding the air peculiar; smelling of freshly picked cherry
blossoms. He found the aroma pleasant, soothing, allowing it to
flow into his mind to muffle the nightmare’s memory and the
horrible feelings it had called forth.

He rolled up on his side, perching on an
elbow to stare longingly at the beauty responsible for the
fragrance, sleeping peacefully at his side. A devious grin appeared
on his lips as he stared at her figure’s outline, her nudity only
hidden by the thin sheet’s fabric, allowing the pleasant memories
of the previous evening to once again arouse his desire.

His fingers moved like they had a life of
their own, crawling across the bed’s surface to gently caress
Cody’s silky brown hair that flowed like a waterfall upon her
pillow. She purred when she felt his caress, but didn't respond,
resisting him with feigned sleep. So he let his fingers continue on
their journey, venturing beneath the protective sheet to explore
her perfectly toned curves, towards a destination he knew would
drive her wild. Her
purr
gradually became
a moan as his fingers crept ever lower, in search of the place
hidden just below her hips. She stirred moments before his
explorers could reach their objective, rolling towards him with a
sleepy smile, snuggling into his embrace.

“I'd love to...but I have morning duty,” she
yawned, playfully pushed him away, only further igniting his
desire.

“Duty or no, you shall not escape me!” Daniel
climbed atop his prey, pulling the sheet taut to block her escape.
She squirmed, giggling with delight, when the base alarm
sounded.

Daniel stiffened, only able to stare at Cody
in shock. Her passionate gaze of moments before, vanished, replaced
by disbelief, then understanding. She untangled herself from his
grasp, his own resistance fading, and started searching for her
scattered clothes as the alarm continued to blare. Daniel, on the
other hand, could only pull himself into a half-sitting position,
his brain still muddled, not able to comprehend exactly what was
going on. Cody glanced in his direction while pulling on her
rumpled blue skirt, her underwear bundled in her hands.

“I need to get back to my room. We should be
on the first shuttle...it looks good on our records,” the giggly
girl of moments before was replaced by a professional fleet
officer. Daniel, still in a daze, nodded, dragging himself out of
bed and towards the closet set flush in the wall of his
quarters.

“Last night was fun. We should do it again
sometime,” Daniel glanced towards the door just in time to catch
Cody’s wink, before she fled into the mass of frantic TSB officers
that now filled the outside corridor. He clearly heard the words,
but they didn't register, the feeling of bewilderment mixing with
the passion of moments before, still clinging reluctantly to his
mind.

Come on, Daniel,
he scolded himself as
he finished clasping on his blue and white combat uniform,
just
remember your training.
He started towards the door, almost
forgetting his laser arc holster in his haste, and rushed into the
busy corridor.

TSB fleet officers were running in both
directions, either returning to their quarters to prepare, or
heading towards the transport tube station and the waiting shuttle
bay. Daniel cursed under his breath as he forced his way into the
dense flow, ignoring the shout from an officer he bumped aside, and
hurried towards the transport tube station.

A buzz of excitement warned Daniel of his
impending arrival, but did little to prepare him for the mass of
officers who were shouting while trying to push their way into the
transport tube queue. He joined the undulating mass moving steadily
forward, and entered a packed tube, pushing himself up against an
attractive young female officer, before accessing the tube’s BAP,
querying a request for orders.

The flash report that flowed into his mind
was too vague for him to decipher if this was actually a drill, or,
as most would suspect, a real emergency. The only information
provided stated for all TSB fleet personnel to immediately report
to their assigned starships. Daniel, however, had a glaring
suspicion that this “drill” had something to do with Sir Simwa and
his allies.

After a five minute trip, the tube came to a
silent stop and he exited with the rest of the nervous TSB
officers. The shuttle bay transport tube station was much larger
than the one within the officer’s barracks, with 50 oversized tube
transports circling the wall, allowing personnel from the 40
different wings of the TSB Earth Base to arrive simultaneously. He
pushed his way through the crowd, towards the line of doors leading
into the massive shuttle bay. The sight, like always, took his
breath away.

Cut directly out of solid rock, the shuttle
bay stood a kilometer wide and five kilometers long. Its walls were
smoothed, with grey and red natural swirls dancing over its entire
surface, appearing more majestic then any painting.

TSB personnel flowed like a wave across the
bay’s floor, towards the 30 unpowered TSB special shuttles that
were lined, nose-to-tail, on an acceleration grav-rail on the far
side of the shuttle bay. Each shuttle could transport 1000 to the
TSB Fleet Base if required, but only 750 comfortably. They shared a
similar design to all other NHA spacecraft, being a long cuboid
shape, or three-dimensional rectangle, with the top of the nose
angled slightly back. They did, however, have two major
differences. The shuttles were unpowered, meaning, unlike all other
NHA starships, they had no NSD core, so were limited to momentum
based travel. They also utilized a type of stealth material for
their hulls that would camouflage the shuttle as it launched,
making them all but impossible to detect with either traditional or
optical sensors.

He pushed his way through the pressing mob
and into the flow heading towards the lead shuttle when a loud tone
echoed throughout the bay. A moment later, the lead shuttle shot
down the tunnel, leaving a blast of wind in its wake. The shuttle
would accelerate down the entire length of the 5000 kilometer long
launch tunnel until it reached sufficient velocity to be launched
into space, on course for the TSB Fleet Base.

He rushed up the ramp and into the second
shuttle, pausing only to check in with the shuttle’s deck officer
before continuing towards the packed rows of open seating,
stumbling over a crewman in surprise when he caught sight of
Lieutenant Cody seated by a window in the back. Absently, he
apologized as he pushed through the rest of the crew who were
fighting over the middle seats, which myth explained, would cause
fewer launch side effects, and dove into the seat next to Cody. She
looked up, nodding her greeting, then turned back towards the
projected viewport adjacent their seats.

“You should have been on the first shuttle,”
Cody said, all business, the playfulness of the previous evening, a
distant memory.

“I tried. I'm surprised you beat me here,” he
responded while wiping his brow clean of imaginary sweat.

“My quarters are on the way to the tubes and
I always have my combat uniform ready...in case of just such an
emergency. I was in and out in less than a minute,” Cody
explained.

“Impressive,” Daniel said with genuine awe.
It had taken him almost five minutes to get ready after she left.
He was about to ask what she thought of their orders, when the
launch siren sounded, prompting an oxygen helmet to appear from the
rear of the seat before him. He grabbed it, securing it over his
head as the seats became like jelly, completely enveloping the
passengers with anti-grav gel in preparation for the high-speed
launch.

Within minutes, the shuttled reached the
acceleration velocity of 5 kps
²
that was required for
its unpowered flight to the TSB Fleet Base. The special seating
significantly reduced the effects of the rapid acceleration down to
about six gravities, but Daniel still found it very
uncomfortable.

Minutes ticked by as the shuttle continued
its rapid acceleration and the sudden painful decrease in gravity,
signaled they were away. It took the unpowered shuttle less than a
second to reach orbit and break free of the Earth's gravity well.
It would take almost another seven hours for them to reach their
destination, the TSB Fleet base, hidden within the Earth star
systems inner asteroid belt.

The seats retracted and Daniel turned to
Lieutenant Cody. Her eyes were closed and a slight mist condensed
along the inside of her oxygen helmet. He suppressed a laugh,
knowing it was impossible for him to sleep in this situation,
though he understood how Cody could, given her lack of sleep the
previous evening. He leaned back, thinking on the vague orders,
unable to suppress the nagging sensation that something terrible
was about to occur, and the cause would be none other, then the
hobo Earthling, Trent.

A projection of a fluidic bronze sphere
appeared just above the portable irradiated particle display unit,
or portable PDU, that had been placed upon the table before them.
Sasha could only stare in awe, it being only the second time in her
life she had ever witnessed the physical representation of one of
the many Programs responsible for overseeing the NHA ruling
nobility.

“Priority one request: Grand Duchess Sasha
Alutia, please confirm identity,” the sphere's surface pulsated and
rippled as the Program's monotone voice broke through the heavy
silence.

“I am Gra-,” Sasha started to respond, but
held her tongue when the Program’s choice of words fully
registered.

“Should we be concerned that the Program is
referring to me as grand duchess even though the official transfer
ceremony has yet to take place?” Sasha turned to Lia’Sil, trying
her best not to sound like the ignorant traditionalist nobles she
so despised. Lia'Sil gazed intently at the rippling bronze sphere,
deep in thought.

“I don't think so, Your Grace. Programs are
impossible to hack since they,” Lia’Sil gestured towards the
floating sphere, “were supposedly developed using sealed
science...or so I've been told. The only individual in the entire
NHA who may be able to alter their behavior is the emperor,”
Lia'Sil explained, though her quizzical look illustrated her
uncertainty better than her words ever could.