Anstractor (The New Phase Book 1) (26 page)

The uniforms consisted of black boots and black pants, with red stripes running the length of the sides. The stripe was actually the pattern of a long las-sword. The tops started with a red tank-top with the insignia on the left breast. A black shirt went over it, armored (as were the pants and boots) with Solark leather, a material that deflected shots of any kind and could be penetrated only by plasma technology, las-swords, or heavy lasers. The shirts were unmarked but impressive in their own way. Going over the shirt was the cherished white military jacket of a phaser graduate. Hats varied based on specialty, but most wore shaded glasses that had intelligence readouts for operations on the inside.

Rafian again walked through a line of saluting peers—now decked out in their colors. He climbed the tall steps leading up to the entrance, approached the podium, and looked down upon the expanse of people cheering for him and smiling as if Vestalia had already been conquered. The view from the podium, his podium, was breathtaking, and he could imagine that after the city was built, he would be able to look out over it from where he stood. It was a good idea to put Phaser Base Alpha on the highest hill in the country, but he did not realize the strategic advantage it would serve if anyone were to infiltrate their ranks. The sky was a clear cyan, giving the illusion of purity and new beginnings, but it was nature’s irony at work, showing a clear day of life as if the last week hadn’t been filled with blood and death.

Rafian’s observation lasted at most two seconds as he regarded his soldiers and moved on to speak. “This is only the beginning.”

He said this in a firm and direct manner, his deep voice booming from the sound system. The crowd erupted in chants of something unintelligible, but it sounded affirming, so Rafian continued.

“This has been a long, painful road for many of us. Hell, the training almost destroyed a dear friend of mine who even now is locked in battle with the demons in the head to overcome the trauma. Many of you are strong, but you are battling the same demons that I myself fight mentally. We were made immoral, inhumane, and calloused because of a few old fools who thought that was the only way members of this galaxy could adequately guard our home. We, the few who liberated the free thinkers from the atrocity that was once known as the jumpers, have torn out the beating heart of those same old fools and reinvented ourselves as phaser agents!”

The crowd went ballistic, and Rafian felt a painful lump in his throat as he thought of Camille and how much she needed to be there, breaking open the new base with him. To his right stood Tayden. She looked impressive, decorated with every medal that she had ever been granted as a pilot and wearing a personally designed beret that matched her suit and jacket. She did not move the entire time while he made his speech, and he felt an enormous amount of respect for everything she had done leading up to this, including rescuing him from the amnesia and that first jump.

“I will be supreme commander of this organization until you vote me incapable or I retire to live on a freed Vestalia.…I reserve the right to identify a country of my own to settle down on.”

He paused to let the laughter build up from his ridiculous joke and winked at Marian.

“Or permanent death finds me and returns me to the life-force. Camille YAN will remain as subcommander, and she will be my eyes, ears, and brain in times of my absence. Your base commander and my fellow lead will be Colonel Tayden Lark. I will be absent often in the field. She will command this structure, oversee the training of our recruits, and be first contact whenever defense of this city is needed, or when backup is required on any mission. It is an honor to be your leader, my fellow marines, starfighters, and spies. Let us not forget that each one of us was deemed special within our respective military ranks, so do not let that fade from your minds as you go forth on your missions.”

With that, Rafian turned the announcement chip over to Tayden and stood where she was standing as she delivered a powerful speech of her own. The speech would be remembered as the Phoenix Eye Address due to being borrowed by the military for repeating to soldiers who were about to embark on a dangerous mission.

Tayden was a short woman, but when she took the podium and spoke, she seemed very much the giant that her heart demanded the world see her as. Rafian looked at her with admiration, having seen her grow from the angry young woman who lashed out at Arn for shooting her to a composed and dangerous professional who had not only saved his life but expanded their organization with over a hundred new recruits. Thirteen fully graduated phasers stood at the front of the crowd to hear the address, their white coats contrasted against the sea of black, red, and blue that was the recruits and the attending space marines from the
Helysian
. Tayden tapped the floating mic droid as it centered itself in front of her, and without any hesitation, she began her legendary speech.

“Warriors, conquerors, defenders, and lovers. We all have our own selfish motivations for why we fight. Many of us don’t know said motivation as of yet because we have buried it deep as we mask it with words such as, ‘I fight for Vestalia my home.’

“Rafian and I couldn’t care less why you fight, ladies and gentlemen. What we do care about is that in any skirmish that you are involved in—be it a bar fight or a single-pilot drop into a war zone—you fight as if it were your last chance to show your supreme quality.

“Fight as if all the holo-vids of the known galaxies were keyed in on you and you only had one chance to get it right.

“Fight as if your family, your friends, and your lovers all depended on it to continue to live out their lives.

“As phasers, you are branded as the best chance for humanity. This is a heavy charge, I know. But the training you have endured, the loss of what could be deemed as a happy, regular, human existence, and lastly, the fate of the galaxy demand that you represent us in the way that you are expected to.

“Phasers don’t fail. We do the mission. When we fall, we get up, dust ourselves off, and finish the mission. When we have doubt, we steel ourselves, remember the details, and finish the mission. When we die, we clone and return, like a ghost that was wronged in its mortal life, or like a phoenix whose fire refuses to be tamed, and we finish the mission.

“We finish the mission, phasers, and we do it with class. Please join me in giving ourselves the first of many cheers for a mission well done, and to the letter.”

With that, the crowd erupted. One hundred and twenty phasers were present from all corners of the galaxy, having come in to see their new command. They were excited, and for good reason. They were finally on Vestalia with a solid base of operations, no longer hiding in the clouds of a planet that nobody wanted.

GREG DRAGON has been a creative writer for several years and has authored on topics of relationship, finance, physical fitness and more through different sources of media. In particular, his online magazine has been a source of much pragmatic information, which has been helpful to many. As a result, his work continues to grow with a large and loyal fan base.

This Florida author brings exciting action and drama to his written work. His storylines keep readers engaged with characters that come to life from the beautiful celestial scenes of science fiction, to the gritty world of urban drama.

See Greg’s author page at
gregdragon.com
or keep up with his latest books and appearances
through email
.

Read on for an excerpt from:

PHASERS OF ANSTRACTOR

Warp crystals came in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, but they all did the same thing – they teleported their masters from one place to another. What the dark education taught Phasers was that life as they knew it was only the structured half of the plane of existence. There are two sides to life’s canvas. There is the painted side—the one we all experience in life—and then there is the back of the canvas—the void that only a select few can access. The crystals give us access to the void; through it we can travel speeds that are faster than light. Transcend death, and explore the Multiverse.

Using a crystal is akin to ripping a hole into life’s canvas and walking through it to the back, only to re-emerge through another hole in another section of the paint. This movement, or “jump,” to the non-detailed back of the canvas is beyond mortal understanding. But for the Phasers, it is the galaxies’ deepest secret, a secret that grants them immortality.

–
Aurora SYN, Biographer

It was a bright afternoon in Zallus, Vestalia and Rafian VCA was darting through the city’s streets, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, chasing his wife, Marian, in order to apologize. For the residents of the city of Zallus, it would have looked like a black shadow whisking by, but Rafian was more concerned with reaching his wife than to worry about spooking anyone. Before Marian could reach the exterior gates, Rafian, jumped off a particularly tall structure, somersaulted several times, and landed in front of her with his hands resting on her light hover-bike, preventing it from continuing forward.

Marian had known that someone was trailing her, but was unaware it was her husband. Therefore, when he sprung, she was ready and flew off the bike with her las-sword free. The wind produced a thick cloud of dust from the road, forcing her to shield her eyes as she moved in on her attacker. But she stopped short when she recognized the form of her husband, as he stood with his hands on her hover bike.

“I could have killed you Rafian! WHAT…THE…HELL?”

“I’m sorry.”

Rafian used his hand to fan away the dust as he approached the battle-ready Marian and hugged her tightly. She stayed rigid, and he knew that his earlier words were still on her mind.

She looked up at his dark brown face. It was slightly obscured by the sand, but his teeth gleamed through, annoying her even more. She pushed him off and his handsome features contorted into a mask of pure disappointment.

“Why would you say such a cold and calloused thing to me, Rafian? The Lucan galaxy is my home; I have blood relatives on Tyhera. Why would you say there is nothing left for me there?”

She was screaming at him as she powered down her sword and re-sheathed it. A crowd of onlookers came around to investigate the source of the yelling. As the citizens of Zallus approached the couple, Rafian felt embarrassed.

“I didn’t mean for it to come out that way,” he said. “All I could think about was the great progress we’ve made here, and how much it would hurt our cause if we were to lose you.”

Staring at him with disbelief, Marian walked up close to his tall frame so that only he could hear what she had to say. “It’s funny how life works,” she said. She crossed her arms defensively, looking off to the side. “I used to have a husband who adored me. I married a man who placed me above his war, his quest for revenge and his organization. I had a husband who cared about saving people –
all
people – not just those from his beloved Vestalia. I HAD a husband, who came into my world, my Lucan world, and helped a revolution grow so strong, that it could take out a well-established Empire. That husband would have heard me when I asked to return to my world, to check in on things. And he would have supported me. What happened to that man, Rafian?”

As she fought back the tears, Marian hopped back onto the hover-bike, then sped away towards their home.

What the hell is wrong with me?
Rafian asked himself, as he dusted off his clothes and ran after her.

~*~*~*~

While Rafian VCA was on Vestalia chasing his wife, the marines of the
Missio-tral
were about to have major problems in deep space. A large Geralos destroyer drifted silently towards the area where the battle cruiser
Missio-tral
was located. After losing Zynec Prime on Vestalia to the Phasers, the Geralos leaders had decided to stay quiet for a time. Their plan: let the humans settle in before making a move against the fleet.

Missio-tral
was a ship built exclusively for war. It had seen numerous battles, and was able to fight and jump away easily whenever things got too hot. Therefore, the Geralos wanted to sneak up on them and disable their jump drive, so that the humans would be forced to stand and fight.

When the Geralos were close enough to see the
Missio-tral
on their jump-radar, they began firing missiles and plasma rockets into its hull. Feeling desperate and overly exposed to the Geralos, the
Missio-tral
fired back at the battleship and sent out a distress signal to another Alliance battleship known as the
Rendron
.

~*~*~*~

By the time Rafian made it home it was evening, and he found his wife inside an erected watchtower that stood outside of their cavern home. She looked beautiful. Her dress was a silken, sand-colored thing made from a single piece of material. It was draped to keep things modest while being supported solely by a jeweled cord, loosely tied at the waist. Her hair was blowing wildly in the wind as she looked down upon the force field and lights that bordered their little city. She had seen her husband walking up the hill towards her, but she paid him no mind and stood with her hands akimbo, like a powerful goddess overlooking a civilization that worshipped her.

Climbing the steps to where Marian stood on the tower, Rafian placed his hands on her hips and spun her around. He touched his nose to hers in the standard greeting of Tyheran lovers. Marian allowed him to kiss her, but then she backed away to watch the disappointment in his eyes.

“You’re dusty and dirty, Raf. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Laughing and nodding at the rejection, Rafian countered, “Dirty? I can fix that in fifteen minutes if you promise to stay up here, just like you are now, so that I can come back and ravage you.”

Marian did not seem very interested and as he made to leave, she caught his arm and shook her head for him not to go. “Rafian, we’re alone, so I have to ask.”

He tensed up in anticipation of her saying that she was leaving him or something equally devastating.

“Where is Camille YAN?” she asked. “Ever since we discussed what to do about your relationship with her, she has gone off the grid completely. No one is saying anything and your dark, erratic mood has me thinking that the worst has happened.”

Marian had managed to slip out of his hands and stood with her arms crossed. Her eyes watched him intently for lies or any attempt to change the subject.

“Marian, Camille is not dead and she hasn’t been banished, so don’t worry about it.”

“Of course she isn’t dead, or in another galaxy like you claim, but she is somewhere that isn’t here. I would like to know where. She helped to start our agency, and at this, the most crucial hour of our cause, she is missing. Where the hell is she?”

Rafian could see that Marian would not give up her probing and was looking for him to lie so she could call him on it. He and Tayden, his sub-Commander, both knew of Camille’s fate, but had agreed that, until she was released, they would make up a false story for anyone who asked. Camille had no close friends outside of Rafian, so he assumed that no one would bother to pry. But here was Marian—in all of her fiery persistence—wondering about the truth.

“Camille is on a psych ship being evaluated and treated, Rhee,” he said, using the nickname he’d coined for her. “I would appreciate it if this stayed between us—”

“Who exactly would I tell? I know you think I hate her, but you’re wrong about that. I really do care about her and simply wanted to know where she was.”

Marian walked towards the edge of the tower. She leaned against the decorative metal railing that bordered its edges, and looked over the expanse of land that held the city and their military operation. Rafian stood watching her, admiring her slender but strong body. He was still very much in love with his wife. She made his heart do things that he couldn’t explain, and he knew that he hadn’t told her enough how much he loved her. She began to speak again but this time it was in her native Tyheran tongue.

“Thank you for telling me the truth. But I won’t lie and say it makes me feel any better about her ending up there. I did not want anything like that to happen. I have extended so much of myself to try and be friends with her, but she has never returned the gesture.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head before taking in a breath and changing the subject. “You haven’t been a good husband to me lately, Rafian. You are short with me, you keep things from me and you lie. I know that a lot of it has to do with her and I wonder if we were back on my planet, would things have been different. What I mean Raf, is that if you hadn’t lost your memory, would you still have fallen in love with me?”

Rafian thought long and hard on Marian’s question. It was a legitimate inquiry and she deserved an honest answer. He thought about the events of that day, when he and his feisty future-wife had squared off. That fateful day when he’d chanced upon her aboard a starship, weeks after they had tried to kill one another.

The memory put a smile on his face. He walked over to Marian and regarded her as if she were brand new. Her skin appeared as flawless, molded clay and her full lips curled in annoyance, as if she wondered what it was that he was up to. She was still his wild, Tyheran kitten, forever loyal to him, but hardly tamed. During the rebellion, she had switched allegiances for him when their love had forced them to choose a side. On her right forefinger sat the beautiful black ring he had given her back when she had agreed to be his wife.

“Rienne.”

The name made her flinch. No one had called her Rienne in ages. Not since the day she’d changed her name and identity to join her new husband and his.

Her lips parted slightly to ask him why, but Raf cut her off to continue what he was saying. “Nothing in this life could have changed the way I felt about you when we met and squared off that crazy afternoon in Veece,” he told her. “Even when I could barely remember what you looked like, I thought of you. And it wasn’t some admiration thing due to you holding your own against me in a fight. I couldn’t admit it then, but I had fallen in love with you.” With that he took her delicate hands into his own and looked into her eyes.

“We’re meant to be, my Tyheran hatch kitten. To think that I got blinked away to another galaxy and stumbled into the house of an enemy agent, not to get captured, but to gain a life partner. You need not question whether things would change if I had remembered Camille. In my heart, I believe that nothing would change, even if I had my memory.”

Marian stared into her husband’s eyes and Rafian could see the fight disappear from them as she remembered what they had been through and the deep love they shared for one another. She wanted to rub his baldhead and feel the bristles of hair growing back—it was something she always did whenever they were together. But she was upset with him and she could not let the physical urges she felt for him interfere with her feelings.

“Raf, what happened to us? In Luca, we were inseparable. You even considered retiring from the war so that we could be a family. Now that we’re here in Anstractor, I realize that it will never happen, but I was good with it because I knew that you would make my coming here worth it. When you shook off my concern for my people today, it really hurt me. I would have rather you had shot me instead of the way you made me feel earlier. I felt like I was in your way, like a toy you had grown tired of. It made me hate you. And it made me wonder, ‘why would he bring me here just to hurt me?’”

“If I vow to you, right here and right now, that I will never come between you and your family again, that I will do what I can to support you until they win their freedom, will you promise to forgive me and forget all of this?”

Marian smiled. “Yes, I can promise the forgive part; I can definitely do that. The forget part? I am not so sure about that one. That one is a bit beyond my control, Commander.”

She grabbed him by the beard and touched her forehead to his. They hugged and then separated to watch the shape of a large cruiser land and deploy a number of Phasers into the city.

“Probably going home to see their families.” Marian said, as if her mind were a million miles away.

“Are you okay, Rhee?”

“I’m just thinking, Rafian, I’m twenty four and you’re twenty six. I just really wish we could have children.”

The words were already out when her eyes found his to apologize silently. When Rafian had joined the organization—prior to his first jump, the dark education and meeting her—part of the Jumper’s process had been to sterilize the membership. Marian would not learn about this until she had followed her new husband home, ignorant of the hell that was going on in his galaxy and ignorant to the situation that he was in. She knew the reminder was painful to him but she had not done it out of spite. She was feeling emotional and the words had just come out.