Ensign Probus
A Space Merchants Novel
By Wendie Nordgren
Copyright © 2018 by Wendie Nordgren
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, places, and events are fictional and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by the United States of America copyright law.
www.wendienordgren.com
Cover Design by: Christopher M. Coyle Dark & Stormy Knight Design www.darkandstormyknight.com
Dedication
In loving memory of Betty Brown
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter One
A bright burst of light illuminated the dense blackness of space in a momentary brilliance, expanding outward in a sphere until the exploded space station’s oxygen burned. Then, darkness returned as shrapnel sped outward from the blast in every conceivable direction. Unimpeded, it raced toward the two ships, striking against shields and either disintegrating upon impact or pinging off along new trajectories, knocking into other debris and spinning.
Within the former space station which had been fabricated from derelict starships, the Mad Ones, the forgotten sons of Dr. Stanley Crispus, had made their home. Outcasts of the civilized and living in secrecy, they had gotten their credits by means of blackmail, extortion, and piracy. Humanoid lives had meant nothing to them. Why would they? The hybrid soldiers had been reviled as nothing more than illegal experiments, dangerous, unstable, and corrupt. For generations, horror stories had been told to frighten children of naturally conceived Laconian hybrids of Enyo and Eriopis descent, beings capable of mind-control who could turn the unwilling into slaves, but who would soon go mad and wreak havoc upon the living.
For those who had been unfortunate enough to see the interior of the space station, a den of horrors the hybrids had called home, those frightening tales were nothing but a pale synopsis of evils too traumatizing for anyone but Inquisitors of the Parvac Empire to enjoy. Having documented, cataloged, and investigated every square inch of the space station, a unanimous decision between the Parvac Empire, Galaxic Government, and Laconian Sector to obliterate it along with its contents had been quickly reached.
“What in their deluded minds ever gave them the idea such a thing would work to cure their madness?” Captain Espanoza stood on the bridge of her ship. Her hair up in a severe bun, her posture rigid, and a disbelieving look of incredulity on her face, she wore the dark-blue uniform of the Galaxic Militia and displayed the same uncompromising demeanor affected by most officers of her ilk toward the illegal scientific experiments.
The Parvac Empire didn’t share their qualms. To them, the hybrid Laconian warriors, who had sworn fealty to Princess Teagan of House Probus and to Emperor Tavere Probus, her father, were assets to be used by the Empire and to be feared by her enemies.
Nothing remained of the space station other than a rapidly expanding cloud of debris, and since her question obviously had been rhetorical, no one extrapolated. Captain Espanoza’s reference had been in regard to the scientific experiments which the hybrids had been conducting. They had been cloning their own brain tissue. They had deduced the way to cure the degradation of their own mental states would be through brain transplants and memory implantation. Search teams led by Parvacian and Galaxic soldiers had discovered the remains of failed attempts at the procedures within cryogenic chambers. Even had their bizarre scientific theorizations met with successful trails, the hybrids still would have required the stabilizing symbiotic bonds with which only the Princess Probus could have provided them, and that was something which those who guarded her never would have allowed. The telepathic and empathic bonds which the Princess could provide resulted from yet another experiment. It was something for which the Empire longed to punish Dr. Stanley Crispus, amongst other crimes. He had tampered with Teagan’s supramarginal gyrus, an area of her brain, shortly after her birth to make the bonds possible. One day, they would have their revenge for his alterations of their Emperor’s daughter and for what he had neglected to do, saving their Empress and her child by reporting her whereabouts.
Inquisitor Eli Beck’s blood chilled in his veins as he imagined Teagan’s reaction had she seen the cloned brains and the dead humans upon whom the Mad Ones had tested their miserable procedures. The captured hybrid males had already been executed, but not before the governing coalition had made quite certain to ascertain that all of Dr. Crispus’ creations had been accounted for, but they were like maggots. Where there was one, there were more, and Eli feared the Mad Ones had done as they always did, prepared for capture with an alternative plan. The threat they had posed to interstellar peace had been significant, and war would have been costly in terms of lives lost and resources upon which the survivors would depend, and like maggots they would have reviled in the ruin, feeding and thriving on the turmoil.
“I am far more interested in learning from whom they obtained their probe, shield disruptor, and visual displacement shielding.” Eli stared into Captain Espanoza’s eyes through the main viewer on his own bridge. She was a formidable opponent whose distrust of the Empire and those who belonged to it was blatant. “The organization or entity in question brought our peoples to the cusp of war.”
Her facial expression became even more guarded. “An investigation is underway.”
“Are the results of these inquiries to be shared between our governments?” Beck watched her eyes as they darkened almost imperceptibly, but Inquisitors such as himself were trained to notice such things. It meant she would be evasive.
“Your question would be better posed to my superiors. Thank you for your cooperation.” Captain Espanoza gave a slight dip of her head. Then, her communications officer made her image disappear from the viewer on the bridge. She would do no more to assist them than that which she was ordered to do.
“The Galaxic Government doesn’t trust us. The Parvac Empire has been absolved of any involvement with the probe simply because of the technology with which it was constructed,” Zared said. His long, dove-grey hair was secured at the base of his neck and fell along the center of his back, a back clothed in the uniform of an Imperial Guard.
“There’s no further suspicion in regard to the Empire’s involvement,” Captain Eric Alaric said from his command chair located upon his own bridge. From the Hadrian, he stared at Zared with penetrating pale blue eyes.
Zared gave a slight bow of his head. Some telepathic communication had occurred between the two males.
“Keep my cousin out of trouble.” Eric tapped at his console, and his image on the viewer also winked out.
“What was that about?” Yukihyo, the head of Clan Ponidi, demanded to know. Like Zared, his hair was dove-grey, but unlike him his eyes were the s
olid-white of a Laconian of Enyo ancestry.
Answering his clan leader, Zared said, “Parvac has been absolved. However, the Galaxic Government intends to discover for themselves the source of the technology used by the Mad Ones and to utilize it for themselves. They don’t like operating from a position of militaristic disadvantage. Captain Alaric wants us to take the ladies and return home to the Empire.”
“Is that so?” Yukihyo asked. He grinned at the other males who stood with him on the bridge of the Empress. He had no intention of abandoning the hunt.
“It would be rather convenient for us to leave these sectors and allow them to search unimpeded for answers,” Inquisitor Drex Licinius observed.
“They had plenty of unimpeded time while communications were closed and the threat of war loomed, and they didn’t find shit.” Xavier Ponidi, an Imperial Guard like his hybrid Laconian brothers, was still furious that their insane older brothers, who they had thought to have been dead, murdered in experiments gone awry by their father, had captured and tortured their brother Jazon. “Someone needs to pay.” He and his brothers had sworn themselves to the service of Princess Teagan and vowed their loyalty to the Emperor, her father.
“Should we stay and search, it will hurt her,” Zared said quietly but loudly enough that all present could hear.
“Why?” Yukihyo asked. No longer at peace, thin orange striations of color traced across the solid-white surfaces of the Enyo’s eyes. He would fight to the death for Teagan, as they all would.
“Eric’s message to me was clear. The secrecy of their mission to uncover the source of the technology will not be jeopardized. They have been ordered to refrain from physical contact with Teagan and the rest of us until they have completed their mission. The same applies to their crewmembers who are married to Parvacs.” Zared met each of their eyes in turn.
“She will be furious when she learns of this,” Drex stated.
“Her? I’m worried about what Sparrow might do. She can’t see her father anymore while we are here? Have any of you experienced my wife’s temper?” Xavier placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. Sparrow’s angry retaliation could easily provoke a war.
“How are we planning to proceed?” General Nico Cassian asked.
“While awaiting our orders, we return to Epopeus,” Eli said.
Vice Admiral Dario Galerius made brief eye contact with each of them and said, “We will be ordered to find out who is responsible for the technology, take the party into custody, acquire the technology for ourselves, and return with it as quickly as possible. The government who finds it first will be at a major advantage. The visual displacement shielding alone would make our fleet invincible.”
“Neither the Laconian nor Galaxic governments have shown proof of ownership or discovery to claim it as their own. This is a race. Whoever finds it first has the rights to it. Think of what my team in conjunction with Sparrow and Farowyn could accomplish with it.” Yukihyo pulled out his vid-screen and tapped away at it.
“What are you doing?” Fitz Jiri asked.
“I’m creating a proposal for Ponidi Propulsions and intend to submit it to the Emperor. Help me with it.”
Xavier said, “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
A deep chuckle rumbled through Yukihyo’s chest. He winked at Xavier.
“Do you doubt our abilities?” Drex asked.
Xavier said, “No, but I think luck might have more to do with it. We didn’t find any leads worth anything on that station.”
Eli smiled. “Challenge accepted.”
“What about Teagan? Are we taking her home?” Zared asked.
“Why would we do that? She is our most valuable asset.” Drex stared out of the viewport at the stars and contemplated strategies for uncovering the truth. Then, he took out his vid-screen and smiled. “It appears our allies have been ordered to return to Epopeus to refuel. Then, they are to proceed with haste to Arachne.”
“How do you know this?” Eli asked as though he already assumed the answer.
Confirming his suspicions, Drex said, “I managed to sneak a little something aboard the Hadrian when no one was looking.”
“Excellent. We will know everything they plan to do until your device is discovered,” Yukihyo absently responded as he motioned with his hand for Fitz to join him in the lift.
“What about Teagan?” Nico asked.
Eli smiled. “This is the perfect opportunity for a training mission, but I’ve learned my lesson. We will give her a choice. No more secrets amongst us. No more lies or prevarications. Should she decide to participate, it will give Ensign Probus and her team some much-needed experience, and perhaps they will uncover something useful.”
“Are we sharing with her all that we have learned?” Zared asked.
“What would be the fun for her in that?” The Inquisitor was being sincere. The mission ahead of them was what he might equate to a scavenger hunt. He viewed it as a game for his bride to play. “If she asks a specific question, answer it. Otherwise, let her discover her own secrets.”
With one foot on the bridge and one foot in the lift, Yukihyo nodded in agreement. “This is exactly what she needs.”
“In what way?” Eli asked.
“She’s tired of secrets and of feeling manipulated. If you want to empower her, teach her what you know. Facilitate her own sense of power and worth. It will be more valuable to her than diamonds.” Yukihyo and Fitz vanished behind the lift doors, but Yukihyo’s words remained with them on the bridge long after he had gone.
Chapter Two
Tracy and Jazon had taken a stealth ship and returned to Aurilius. She had wanted to spend more time with her family, and while Jazon didn’t need to be pampered and coddled while he recovered from his injuries, he recognized his wife’s need to make a fuss over him and have him to herself on her own turf. He’d promised to make use of his time there. As soon as Tracy’s attention was elsewhere, he intended to retrieve Sparrow’s probe, or he’d have more grievous injuries from which to heal.
Sparrow, Xavier’s wife and our resident weapons expert, had been livid over the disregard for one of her creations. After scolding Jazon, she had pedantically explained to him how easily someone could steal her design through reverse engineering. Tracy hadn’t defended her husband. Being quick-witted, she knew recovering Sparrow’s probe would facilitate her own goal, a longer family visit.
“Well, it looks like it’s just us. What should we do for the rest of the day?” I wiggled the sand off of my toes.
Sparrow, Terre, Violet, and I were on the beach watching the waves. Thunderdrop and the children were on an outing with Elspeth and Julia Bosh, Quaid’s mothers, and their cousins. Flake and Milk, Neema and Poppy’s snow foxes, were with us. Currently, they were digging. Sand flew out from beneath their paws and formed mounds behind them. Aside from being cuddly and adorable pets for the girls, I’d found a use for them. No matter where Kaoti hid himself from us, be it beneath sand or up a tree, Milk and Flake could find him.
“Good girls!” I praised as they sank their teeth into Kaoti’s black sleeve and tugged his arm free of the sand.
Sitting up, he scratched behind their ears.
Smiling out over the waves, I watched Izaac and Clark, my two newest and youngest husbands. They were surfing the waves and were quite good at it. They had joined us a few minutes earlier. Clark had been eager to avoid Captain Kaoti Aegisthus, Violet’s husband, Poppy’s father, and my bodyguard. Clark’s behavior could only mean one thing. Kaoti had been at it again.
“What did you do to my team?” I stared at my bodyguard.
He gave me a blank stare, devoid of emotion.
“Kaoti, answer the question,” Violet scolded.
Standing, sand slid from his uniform. Flake and Milk yipped and jumped, putting their sandy front paws on his legs in their quest for attention. Walking over to stand at the foot of his wife’s lounge chair, he stopped and stared into her eyes. The snow foxes lost inter
est and ran into the water to cool themselves. Kaoti removed his boots, weapons, belt, shirt, and pants in a slow striptease. His muscles were impressive. It was the faint scarring on his chest from a blaster cannon which had me averting my eyes and not embarrassment. Violet thirstily drank in the sight of her husband, standing before her in the nude.
“You’re gonna get a citation. This isn’t the Empire,” I warned.
Kaoti laughed. “Where would I put it?” He held his hand out to Violet. The look in her eyes was heated, and I didn’t want to stick around for what the two of them would soon be doing in the clear ocean water.
“I’m going to rescue Cedrenus, Binder, Ross, Tyler, Levi, and Stayton from whatever Kaoti has done to them. Who is with me?” I got up and dusted sand from my butt. “Where did Phillip go?” I asked Terre.
She and Sparrow had gotten up to join me.
I activated my vid-screen and located my team who was a few miles down the beach. Frowning at the distance, I started walking toward the roller my father-in-law, Consul Quinn Bosh, had been letting us use. I rubbed my sandy feet against the plasti floorboard and then used the soles of my feet to sweep it off. Terre sat next to me, and Sparrow took my vid-screen and sat in the back.
Terre said, “He wanted to help Hiroshi. The repairs to Tora are complete, and he’s eager to return to his wife on Arachne. Anyway, the two of them are rather close and seem to have missed each other.”
Terre had done something during our stay on Epopeus which she assured me would make her mother, the Lady Dacia of Naxa, faint. She had gotten her long black hair cut just past her shoulders. Silky strands of it blew back from her face when I accelerated. In contrast, Sparrow’s brown curls had become an untamed riot from the sun, salt, and wind. Her curls whipped about her head while I drove us along the beach in search of my team, and she watched my vid-screen.
Sparrow said, “They’re with a large group a mile and a half ahead.”
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