Ruins of the Galaxy Box Set: Books 1-6

by Chaney, J. N.

  “Would any of you like something warm to drink?” Azelon inquired, and everyone’s hands went up. For the first time in a long time, the notion of drinking something for comfort—beyond the mere practical purposes of staying alive—stirred in his belly. But they needed to get this conversation started and to share information. Decisions needed to be made.

  Still, a cup of coffee would be perfect right now. “Do you have anything like coffee?” Magnus asked.

  “I am unfamiliar with this coffee. However, I am capable of formulating anything with a molecular pattern so long as I have the proper parameters.”

  “I have no idea what the parameters for coffee are, so maybe something that’s—”

  “I believe I can be of assistance here, sir,” TO-96 interrupted. The bot turned toward Azelon. “Please reference my file marked Human, Dietary Protocols, Liquids.”

  Azelon paused then said, “I have it. Thank you, TO-96.”

  “So… you’re gonna make me coffee, then?”

  “Affirmative. Anyone else?”

  * * *

  “So you said you came from Worru?” Awen asked, reclining in one of the chairs, hands on her lap. Magnus couldn’t get used to Awen not being in her Luma robes. Seeing her in a mix of street clothes and an oversized captain’s jacket was… nice.

  “Yeah. But, if you don’t mind, can we jump to where you got this ship?” The rest of Magnus’s crew nodded, some verbally agreeing.

  Awen took a deep breath and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “I opened the stardrive.”

  “You opened the stardrive?” Magnus couldn’t hide his excitement. “No way.”

  “Yes way. And it was awesome.”

  Magnus waited for her to go on, but she didn’t. She just sat there, smiling.

  “Mystics, Awen! Are you gonna tell me or what?”

  “Eh. I don’t think you’d be that interested.”

  “So help me, Awen…”

  “Okay, okay!” She raised her palms, a huge smile across her face. “It gave us coordinates to a quantum tunnel.”

  “A quantum… tunnel?”

  “And it led us to the Novia Minoosh.”

  “The Novia who?” Magnus hung on her every word as she went on to explain the discovery. He could feel his eyes growing wider and wider. Had they not actually been sitting on an alien starship from a different universe—What’d she call it? Metaspace?—he wouldn’t have believed a single word. It was all far too fantastical. But here they were, and he could no more deny the ship beneath his feet than he could the blaster in his hands.

  Ezo and TO-96 nodded as Awen shared about coming to Ki Nar Four to change ships and meeting Sootriman. She described their jump to the other universe, and she spoke of a habitable planet and an ancient abandoned city. Then she shared about being attacked by a Republic admiral as well as by So-Elku.

  “Did you say Kane?” Magnus asked. “As in Admiral Wendell Kane?”

  “I don’t know his first name. Fifties, bald, creepy looking. Wears a pinky ring?”

  Magnus nodded slowly. This piece of news rattled him the most. He knew Kane. Not personally, of course, but by reputation. Who didn’t? The man was considered one of the navy’s greatest commanders, though Magnus thought better of the adjective—most ruthless was more appropriate. Admiral Kane had gained a reputation among the Navy and the Marines for accepting the deployments that no one else wanted to take. As a result, he employed tactics that didn’t exactly comply with Repub standard operating procedures or the Intergalactic Code of Ethics.

  No one outside of the military knew of these breaches, of course, and everyone in power seemed to dismiss his behavior, figuring that if Kane was ready to accept the danger that no one else wanted to face, they were willing to overlook methods that no one else would be allowed to use. It was rumored that if Kane had ever failed, the Repub would have disavowed his actions and thrown him under the proverbial skiff.

  Instead, Kane became a legend. He’d led Third Fleet into the initial hellhole of Caledonia, taking chances no one thought he should. But his ballsy efforts had made the first Marine landings possible. Without him, Magnus’s entire battalion would have been blown out of the sky before ever touching down.

  At the Battle of Po-Froslin, Kane had sacrificed several of his battle cruisers and one destroyer in a wild attempt to drive straight through the enemy fleet’s formation. While thousands of his own sailors died, no one could deny that Kane had turned what would have been a months-long conflict into three days of fighting. Second Fleet came in to clean up the pieces, but Third received all the medals.

  And then there was the moon base on Teslo Nine. Kane’s group of ships had endured a week of heavy bombardment from the planet-based artillery, all while bobbing and weaving behind the moon like a boxer staying just out of reach of an opponent. His constant vigilance had allowed Marine landings on the moon base, which then gave the Republic access to the planet. The Senate never said a word about his strikes against the artillery—strikes that resulted in untold civilian deaths. Kane had won. And since the end justified the means, the means had been overshadowed by the end.

  According to Awen, Kane seemed to have access to whatever this quantum-tunnel technology was, and that worried Magnus. And if Azelon Spire was representative of what Awen had discovered from this Novia Minoosh species—and Kane was willing to try to kill for it—the galaxy was in trouble. Awen went on to describe the troopers who’d assaulted her—black-clad Marines in what Magnus guessed was modified Mark VII armor with three white stripes on their shoulders. He froze. The pieces of a complicated puzzle were coming together.

  Magnus had long suspected that the three-striped troopers were rogue Repub operatives, but no one had ever been able to say for sure. Nor was anyone certain who directed these troopers. Some claimed it was a secret session of the senate, operating off the books. Others feared the troopers were a clandestine division of the Marines.

  His thoughts turned toward the Bull Wraith that had captured the Stones’ ship. Then he thought of the one-sided assault on the Jujari fleet that Brigadier General Lovell had alluded to with Rohoar. He considered the assault Awen had described. It was Kane… all of it had been Admiral Kane this whole time.

  He’s gone rogue.

  No. Magnus corrected himself. He’s gone mad.

  Magnus was spellbound as he listened to the rest of Awen’s story—about her three months on the planet and the discovery of the quantum-tunnel generator. The time dilation between the two universes was also a head spinner, but he knew that advanced quantum physics involved some crazy splick well above his pay grade.

  The news that a second contingent of Kane’s men had returned to the Novia’s planet was unsettling, to say the least. All Magnus could figure was that they were after some of the alien tech. ’Cause that’s what I would want. And Novia tech in Kane’s hands spelled trouble for both universes. He had a strange feeling that it wouldn’t be long before he was fighting battles on several fronts. Splick, aren’t you doing that already, Adonis?

  When Awen seemed like she was done giving the short version of her story, Magnus checked the time displayed in the corner of his bioteknia eyes. Piper would be arriving at any minute, and he needed to fill Awen in on the little girl before she arrived. To save time, he skipped most of the action surrounding the rescue of his men and focused on Piper… on her powers… and just how much she freaked Magnus out.

  13

  Piper held her mother’s hand on one side and Rohoar’s on the other as they walked through the shiny new starship. Her mama had insisted that holding one hand—hers—was enough. But Piper wanted to hold the big dog’s too. So she passed her corgachirp to her mother, saying, “Here, Mama. Can you please hold Talisman?”

  As soon as her mother had taken the stuffed animal, Piper reached out and grabbed Rohoar’s finger. The Jujari recoiled at first, though Piper hadn’t meant to startle him. But once he saw it was her, he relaxed and then let her hold on.
r />   The three of them walked down the corridor. Mr. Titus had been ordered to the bridge by someone in his earpiece. Piper looked over her shoulder to make sure the Marauder knew where he was going. “If you get lost, just come back and find us, Mr. Titus.”

  The man smiled at her. “Thank you, Piper. I will.”

  Piper, her mother, and Rohoar continued walking for several minutes. They listened to a woman give them instructions over the ship’s speakers. “Continue to follow the illuminated path.” Piper bet it was some kind of fancy AI. She’d never seen a ship this unusual before, and it just had to have a fancy AI.

  Piper marveled at the bright-blue dots they’d been following. Each dot appeared along the white floor then disappeared when she stepped on it. Piper tried to watch several of them fade by removing her foot as soon as she put it down, but the action only made her stumble.

  “Piper, keep your head up,” her mother said, tugging on her hand.

  “Yes, Mama.”

  “Continue forward ten meters,” the woman’s voice said from somewhere overhead. “Then turn left.”

  Maybe they were close to wherever they were going. Piper hoped she would get to explore the ship more. And meet new people. Meeting new people is the best.

  “Please turn left.”

  A set of doors slid open. Piper looked into a big room filled with tables and chairs. The crew from her ship sat near the middle while two robots served warm drinks. Piper wanted a drink, and she wanted to talk to the robots too. They looked very interesting.

  No sooner had she stepped through the doorway than everyone turned to look at her. As she got closer, Piper noticed two new people—a woman with pointy ears and purple eyes and a man with narrow eyes and a long coat.

  “Hi,” she said to the purple-eyed woman. “My name’s Piper.”

  The woman extended her hand, and Piper shook it. “Hi, Piper. My name’s Awen.”

  “You’re really pretty.”

  Awen placed a hand on her chest. “Why, thank you. You’re lovely too.”

  “Thanks.” She turned to the man. “What’s your name?”

  “My name’s Idris Ezo. But Ezo is fine.”

  “Okay. Are those your bots?”

  Ezo followed her outstretched finger toward the two robots serving drinks. “One of them is, yes. Would you like to meet him?”

  “Oh, yes please.” Piper absolutely loved robots, and these two looked like they’d be her favorite. She was sure of it.

  “Hey, ’Six. Need you over here.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  The gray-plated bot walked toward her, and Piper’s eyes widened as she tried to take him in. His eyes glowed a vibrant white behind a translucent face shield. He had rockets on one forearm and a blaster on the other.

  “What do they call you?” Piper asked.

  “I am TO-96. At your service.”

  The bot bowed to her, and she couldn’t help but giggle. “You are very nice.”

  TO-96 glanced up, tilting his head. “Nice? That is kind of you to say.”

  “Who made you?”

  “I am a navigation robot originally manufactured by Advanced Galactic Solutions but modified by Idris Ezo.”

  “I’m Piper,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m just a human, made by humans.”

  “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Piper.” The bot shook her hand gently. He was so cool.

  “How many star systems have you been to?”

  “Piper,” her mother said. “That’s enough.”

  “Can I meet the other robot?”

  Her mama sighed. “Yes, but quickly. You’ll have time to ask them plenty of questions later.”

  Piper walked up to the slender white robot and extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Piper.”

  Instead of grasping Piper’s hand, the robot mimicked her posture, thrusting her right arm into the air with her hand extended. “Hi, I’m Azelon.”

  Piper laughed, covering her mouth to keep the noise down. To her surprise, the bot covered its mouth too and giggled—which made Piper laugh even more.

  Then the bot stopped and asked TO-96, “How am I doing with the human greeting ceremony?”

  “I believe it needs some work,” TO-96 said.

  Then Azelon looked at Piper. “Forgive me. I haven’t met many humans before.”

  “That’s okay. I’ve never ever seen a bot like you before. So… I think that kinda makes us even.”

  “How are we ‘even’?”

  Suddenly, Piper felt her mother’s hand on her shoulder. “Piper, sweetie, you need to—”

  “Hey, you’re the ship’s voice,” Piper exclaimed. “Which means you’re a girl bot.”

  “Darling…” Her mother sounded cross.

  “Why, yes, that was my voice,” Azelon replied. “And I am modeled after the feminine archetype.”

  “Your voice is wonderful. Good job.”

  The bot tilted her head. “Thank you.”

  “Piper, let’s leave the bot alone. You’ll have plenty of time to speak with her later.”

  “Okay, Mama.”

  Her mother turned her around while some of the troopers brought over chairs. Piper hopped into one right next to Awen. Her legs dangled over the side. It was a really big chair. She looked over at her mother, who sat on the other side of her, and then at Rohoar, who seemed to fit the chair just right. The room had grown quiet.

  “What was everyone talking about before?” Piper asked

  “Actually, we were talking about you,” Awen replied.

  “Me?”

  Awen nodded. “Magnus was telling us all about your daring escape from the black ship, your journey across the desert, and your last several days on Oorajee.”

  “Did he tell you that my daddy died?”

  Awen’s eyes fluttered for a moment, like she was going to cry. “Yes, Piper. He did tell us. We are so very sorry to hear about his passing.”

  “Thank you.” She lowered her head. “I’ve been very sad about it. Mama has too.”

  “I imagine so.”

  Piper wiped her nose on her sleeve. Her eyes were watering again. “Where do you come from, Miss Awen?”

  “Me? Oh, I come from a planet called Elonia. But now I reside on Worru… at least… I used to.”

  Piper reached out and touched Awen’s hand. She didn’t mean to. It just… happened. As soon as her palm touched Awen’s skin, it was as if Piper could see inside of Awen’s soul—as if she were dreaming that she could see the world as Awen saw it. But it wasn’t just Awen’s present that Piper could see. It was her past too. Everything was there in a flash.

  Piper saw Awen as a child and the faces of her mother and father. She was in school with Awen as a teenager, being picked on by her peers. Then she saw Awen at a beautiful-looking school with hundreds of other students, all dressed in lovely robes. They were training to serve different worlds and species. And they knew how to move inside of…

  “You’re a Luma,” Piper said.

  “Wha… What did you say?”

  “You went to observances when you were seventeen. But your parents didn’t want you to. You decided to anyway because you wanted to help people. You were upset that your parents didn’t agree with you. I’m sorry for your pain.”

  Awen pulled her hand away and clutched it against her chest. The room went very still.

  “I’m sorry,” Piper said. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Awen shook her head. “No, Piper. But… how did you know all that?”

  “Know all what?”

  “All those things about me?”

  “I felt them. When I touched you.”

  Awen looked concerned. Not mad concerned, just regular concerned—like she didn’t understand what Piper had said. The pretty lady with the pointy ears and purple eyes looked at Piper’s mother. “How long?”

  “Since she was very small.”

  “And does she…?”

  “A little, yes.”

  T
hen Awen did something very odd. She slipped down from her chair and knelt in front of Piper, holding Piper’s hands in her own. “I think there is an important reason why you and I have met, Piper.”

  “Well, that’s good. I don’t have many friends, so I like making new ones.”

  Awen smiled. “Yes, we will be friends. But I think we will be more than that.”

  “What is more than friends?”

  “Piper, you are very special,” Awen explained. “But sometimes being very special also means we are very different.”

  “From others?”

  “Yes, from others.”

  “Like you felt on Elonia in school?”

  “Exactly like that, yes.” Awen brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “The way I got over those feelings was by being with others like me. When I was with them, I didn’t feel different. Instead, I felt like I belonged.”

  “Are you saying that you’re like me?”

  “Yes. Yes I am.”

  Piper took a deep breath. “That makes me happy.”

  “It makes me happy too. It also means that I would like to teach you some things about your abilities.”

  “My powers?”

  “Your powers, yes. I would like to teach you more about them. Would that be all right?”

  Piper looked at her mother, who nodded.

  “Okay. I’d like that a lot. Thanks, Miss Awen.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s truly my pleasure. Piper, you are a marvel and a wonder.”

  That was exactly what her mama always said about her.

  “What did you say?” Piper’s mom asked Awen.

  “I… just said that it’s my pleasure to be her teacher.” Awen glanced at Magnus then back at Valerie. “I thought you just indicated that was acceptable.”

  “No, no, not that,” Valerie replied. “The last thing—what you just called Piper.”

  “A marvel and a wonder?” Awen dismissed the phrase with a wave. “It’s just an expression—something my master called me. I thought it was fitting for Piper, too, seeing as how she’ll be my first—”

  “Your master… on Worru?”