The great ship settled over our compound. Other than a gentle rush of air from its inertial system going offline, the gravity drives were silent. Frig joined us in the field. The ship descended, settling on the ground fifty meters from where we stood. A ramp lowered from the giant gravity wall that protected the docking bay. I took a deep breath.
Tony stepped through the wall...
After a short celebration, we were told of his encounter with the AI ship. His shuttle was pulled aboard, seemingly empty, and then Tony got to work cleansing the ship of AIs. A visit was paid to the Andaris colony and the wrecked shuttle was traded for a large food supply. Our journey back to civilization would be long, but we would not be struggling to survive.
It took seven weeks to reach the gated colony on Roddan. Using the gate system, an inhibitor signal was broadcast to all colonies. The AI systems on each, without the Duke's leadership and countermeasures, fell silent.
Within six months, our war with the AIs was in its final stages. A complete victory was inevitable.
The colonel, after months of healing, led the fight. He was in his element, and had even managed a new supply of omega root. Jack, Garrett, Joni, Go, and Diane worked as his aides, following his commands to the letter and keeping him informed of the results. The Duke had provided a defense against the comm inhibitor. Without him, the AIs offered little resistance.
The Sawblade Galaxy was the first to be certified as clean. A few months afterwards, all evidence of the AIs’ dominance had been removed from all seven galaxies. Day three hundred twenty-two of the Earth standard year was designated as "Freedom Day." I looked forward to our first celebration.
With the fighting ended, Garrett and Joni returned to Alpha Prime. Joni was easily elected as mayor of Alpha city, a post which Garrett was convinced would be the beginning of a long and storied career. A happy Raptor was the new symbol of the city as the first pet.
When the pair's first pregnancy was announced, congratulations were given with a personal visit by all. When we were told she would be having triplets, Go accused her of being part Grunta. I was offered the traditional Human position of godfather, a role I gladly accepted.
Jack spent months scouring the area suspected of holding the Thorn. His persistence paid off. The Thorn was returned to the AMP, where it was subsequently offered to him for use as a diplomatic exploration vessel. Go and his newly-wedded wife Diane were the first to volunteer as his diplomatic aides. All requests were granted by the new Council of Governance, an assembly of persons who were highly respected by all.
The Council, set up on Earth and led by Bartel Helgris, Tom Harper, and Anthony Anderson, had opened all gates to all travel. The news feeds had termed it "The Great Migration." Hordes of rural citizens made their way to the cities, while city dwellers left for colonies further out. Business was booming at all levels, and opportunities to improve one's station in life abounded. If for only a moment in time, it was the utopia we had all dreamed of.
Kerba Skol was given the sole rights to study Megiddo and its history. A gate was installed and a university opened for all who wanted to join him in the study of AMP history. I had it on my list to visit one day.
With the AI threat gone, the AMP had been fully reborn. Freedom truly reigned, and the AMP's fair laws and opportunities were there for all to pursue. If a citizen wanted to earn credits, there had never been a better time to try.
After several probing incursions by the Baldi Empire, the Council of Governance established a military force. Warship construction was initialized, as were training facilities to staff them. We had no shortage of potential volunteers for service. The Baldi seemed disinterested in diplomacy, as Jack's attempts to change their minds had fallen on deaf ears. The colonel was convinced they would only be dissuaded by a strong defense. We had the resources, it was only a matter of time.
I returned to Dallex briefly, where I passed my standing as Emperor on to General Gurus. He was as close as a Talisan could be to having a conscience. He was fair, and I had no doubt the people would readily accept him as their new Emperor. A short ceremony brought in the highest media ratings ever achieved. I left Dallex with a smile, the weight of responsibility for an entire species lifted from my shoulders.
Getta returned to Jorus, eventually taking over and leading the Council. I accepted a part-time honorary professorship involving the study of our people, although the majority of my time was spent mentoring my grandchildren, a brood whose numbers had swelled to one hundred thirty-six. When grandpa visited, it was like a feeding frenzy of slimy, licking tongues. Undoubtedly a disturbing display in some cultures, but a most welcome one in ours. It was at those moments that I was as happy as I had ever been.
~~~~~
What's Next!
* * *
This Human is asking for your help!
If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on the site where it was purchased. And by all means, please tell your friends! Any help with spreading the word is highly appreciated!
Also, I have a free science fiction eBook short story, titled "THE SQUAD", waiting for anyone who joins my email list. Find out when the next exciting release is available by joining the email list at [email protected]. I like feedback!
Author's Note:
Thank you for following the OMEGA series. It was a joy to write. And I feel humbled to have had my work accepted by so many. The feedback I have received, whether heartwarming or critical, has been highly appreciated. It stokes the fires that make me want to write more. No one should be without a little adventure in their lives, even if only for a few hours at a time.
At the moment, there are no definite plans to continue the OMEGA story. However, the door is always open and the future is never set! If the Baldi continue their push, my heroes may have to return, or new heroes may have to emerge. We'll have to wait and see.
If the OMEGA series was the first of my works you have ventured to read, please have a look at the SODIUM and AMP series of books. They are both prequels to OMEGA. Links to the retailers who sell them can be found at www.arsenex.com, or you may search the retailer sites for Stephen Arseneault as the author.
The following preview of the next book is provided for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy!
(Flip the page!)
HADRON
(Vol. 1)
Dark Matter
Chapter 1
* * *
"In a new development, we are hearing from unconfirmed sources this evening, that 'no fatalities' are being reported from the jetliner that crashed in Wharton State Forest of Central New Jersey last night. The plane may have been unoccupied. No passengers... or crewmembers. Daniel."
The news anchor replied, "Rachel? Unoccupied? Is that even possible?"
The perky blonde reporter shrugged. "We'll have to wait to see, Daniel. Back to you."
Attention waned as the smiling anchor began to blather about talk of an upcoming commission vote.
A patron rose from his stool, tossing back a whiskey shot before pitching a dollar into the tip jar. "I wish the last flight I was on had been unoccupied. Was surrounded by crying babies and whiny kids. If you can't control 'em, you need to keep 'em at home."
The bartender, Mace Hardy, smiled and nodded thanks. As the man walked away, what was probably the millionth water ring was wiped from the top of the bar.
"What has it been... six years?" Mace thought to himself.
His head shook from side to side as he polished the bar top and mulled over his misfortune. One of his regulars strolled through the front door.
"Johnnnnny..." Mace said slowly. "Let me guess, a cold mug and a Mangrove Special Dark?"
Johnny Tretcher sat on the stool the man had just abandoned. "Wow, it's as if you know me or something. How's tips today?"
Mace looked over at the mostly empty glass jar sitting on the counter. "Slow afternoon. Only had a half dozen people in since four."
Johnny pulled out a five and reached over, stuf
fing it in the jar. "There you go. Now you're up 5X."
Mace smirked. "So you'll be here until what... eleven? That's five hours. Buck an hour? I'd say that about sums you up."
Johnny shook his head. "Hey! That was rude. I'd like to talk to the management! The workers here are a bunch of ingrates and the customer service is abysmal!"
Mace laughed. "OK, but just so you know, I'll be representing the management today."
Johnny Tretcher nodded and asked. "How's your mother doing?"
Mace took a deep breath as he poured the thirty-nine degree Mangrove into the chilled mug. "She struggles. Her doctor only wants to treat the symptoms with more meds. She's trying out a new doc next week. From what she was told by others, he might be able to help. Just wish she wasn't on the other side of the country. And thanks for caring, by the way. I'll let her know you asked about her."
Johnny replied, "Your mom is a class act. Should be more in the world like her."
Johnny looked up at the TV on the wall as a talking head babbled on about local politics. "Anything new on that plane crash?"
Mace turned to look at the tag lines scrolling by as he propped his elbow on the bar. "They're speculating there may have been nobody on it. What was it, eleven o'clock last night when it went down? Only thing they've been able to report is the military has that place cordoned off for a few miles in every direction."
Johnny took a swig and chuckled.
Mace asked. "What's so funny?"
A finger pointed up at the TV. "Of all the places to go down— Jersey. They'd have been lucky to make it out of there alive anyway."
Mace laughed. "Hey, take it easy on my Jersey people. Half my family came from there."
Johnny nodded. "And look at what happened. You spend all your free hours working this dive pouring beers for jerks like me. Construction still slow?"
The bartender frowned and nodded. "Only managed two full days last week. Nothing so far this week. This economy... it's killing me. Almost makes me long for my Army days. Had I stuck it out I'd be at sixteen years now."
Johnny took another swig. "Yeah, but you'd have missed all this."
A second news flash about the crash came up on the TV screen.
Mace said, "Hang on. I'll turn it up."
The anchor on the screen looked as though he was going to burst with excitement.
"This just in. We have exclusive word from credible sources about where this flight originated. Through the investigations of this network, we have word of a passenger plane gone missing. Flight 7220, traveling from Caracas, Venezuela, to Managua, Nicaragua, with seventy-three passengers and four crew aboard, went off radar early yesterday afternoon. We have confirmed reports that an unidentified passenger jet briefly entered Dominican airspace on a northward heading. We are working on confirmation from both the Venezuelan and Nicaraguan governments at this time. We'll be bringing you updates live as new information comes in. Daniel Vasquez, Channel 9 News."
Johnny leaned back on his barstool. "That has hijacking written all over it. Curious though. All those trees and no fire?"
Mace replied, "Wharton State Forest is Central Jersey. Could have been Philly or New York it was heading for. Had they kept going straight north, it'd be Trenton."
Johnny gave a bewildered, but comical look. "Trenton? Who'd hijack a plane to Trenton? Even if you were gonna crash it, why there? Headlines would read 'Plane goes down in Trenton, causes fifty million dollars of improvements'."
Mace half frowned as he stared at the screen. "Trenton is loaded with industrials and chemicals. Could leave a mess."
A second customer came through the door. He looked around before walking up to sit at the bar.
Mace greeted him with a smile. "What can I get you?"
The man was short in stature and thin, unlike Johnny, tall, and weighing in at close to three hundred pounds.
"I'll just have a soda."
Mace asked, "Diet?"
An irritated response was returned. "I weigh one forty-five. Do I look like I'm on a diet? Give me the hard stuff."
Mace didn't take offense to the answer. In bar-land, half the visitors on any given day would be coming in wearing their problems on their sleeves.
Mace filled a glass with ice before pressing the button on the soda tap. "Two dollars or a tab, whichever you like."
The thin man replied, "A tab is fine. I'll probably be here all week."
Mace held up a hand. "I'm sure you already know this, but you run a tab, it has to be cleared every night."
The thin man pointed, winked, and nodded. "Got it. Just keep 'em comin'."
Mace asked, "Gotta name?"
"It's Tres. As in uno, dos... I'm the third kid. My parents are comedians."
Mace returned an easy laugh. "Please tell me you don't have brothers named Uno and Dos."
Tres shook his head. "Nope. Robert and Nathaniel. Bobby and Nate. You know what short for Tres is? Tres."
Mace looked him over and asked, "Indian? Tres doesn't quite fit."
Tres sighed, "Quarter. Mom is half. Father's British. Not a lick of Spanish anywhere in me."
Johnny leaned over with an outstretched hand. "Welcome to our little corner of the world, Tres. Johnny Tretcher. And our attendant this fine evening is Mace Hardy."
Tres shook Johnny's hand. "Mace? As in the weapon or the spray?"
Johnny laughed out loud. "He wishes. His mom likes to cook and mace is her favorite spice. Tres doesn't sound quite so bad now, does it?"
Tres replied, "I'd take Mace in a heartbeat."
Johnny asked, "What brings you to our neck of the woods today, Tres? If you don't mind my asking."
Tres took a sip of his soda. "Family business. My father has a patent on a brewing apparatus that speeds up the fermenting process. I'm at the brewery down the street, putting together a demonstration line."
Johnny grinned. "The beer business? Now we're talking my language. I like this guy!"
A second news flash came on the TV screen.
"This is Don Vasquez with Channel 9 News. We are going live to a spokesman from the National Transportation Safety Board for new information about the crash of flight 7220 out of Caracas."
The TV changed to an image of a woman standing at a podium. Papers were shuffled in front of her as she listened to an earpiece.
Johnny said, "You been watching this today?"
Tres shook his head. "Don't know anything about it."
Mace leaned back on the bar with his arms crossed as they waited for the report. "They've sure stayed quiet on this one."
Johnny replied, "Yeah, well, while we're waiting, how about a fresh brew?"
Johnny leaned towards Tres. "The service around here is kinda slow."
As Mace poured a new bottle into a frosty cold mug, he replied, "A slow patron calls for slow service."
Mace looked directly at Tres. "No offense intended."
Tres lifted up his soda. "None taken."
Johnny held up his hand. "Hold up... they're talking."
"As the investigation into this tragedy continues, we will make every effort to inform the public of the facts. There has been much speculation in the media focusing on hijacking. At this early point in the investigation, we believe that to not be the case. I repeat, there is no evidence to suggest a hijacking at this time. However, we won't know more until we have recovered and analyzed the data from the flight recorder."
A journalist up front cut in with a question. "Any survivors? The airline said that plane left with seventy-three passengers and four crew."
The spokeswoman continued. "The plane has been positively identified as flight 7220 out of Caracas, Venezuela. There were no passengers or crew aboard at the time it came down."
The journalists standing in front of the podium erupted in questions.
The spokeswoman again held up her hand. "Please. I'm sorry. At this time I have no further information other than to confirm that there were no fatalities at the crash site. We are working
with the governments of Venezuela and Nicaragua, as well as the airline operating this aircraft. We will let you know more as new information becomes available. That is all I have for now. Thank you."
The spokeswoman turned from the cameras and was hustled away from the podium.
Johnny raised his eyebrows. "Empty plane? You buying that? Somebody had to have been flying that thing."
Tres said, "It was coming out of Venezuela. Who knows if the passenger manifest is real. We aren't always on the best of terms with that government. Maybe they sent the plane our way."
Mace half laughed, "Let the conspiracy theories begin."
Johnny swigged his beer. "OK, how about this... crazy pilot, lowers altitude, forces crew into the back, opens the door and makes everyone jump out. He, or she, then follows."
Tres added. "Or... aliens took 'em. They are all on a ship just outside the atmosphere, probably getting probed about now."
Mace grimaced at the mental image before replying to Johnny. "You know, if the pilot made them jump, and then he jumped with a parachute, enough time has gone by that he could be sitting right here in this bar."
Johnny turned around to look. "I see Marlene and Tracy. Other than that it's just us."
Johnny stared hard at Tres.
Tres huffed. "Oh, sure, blame it on the skinny kid. Do I look like I'd be from Venezuela?"
Johnny joked, "Hey, you come in here ordering a soda when you say you work in the brewing industry. Nothing at all suspicious about that."
Tres took a final gulp and pushed his empty glass across the counter. "Hit me again, Mr. Hardy. Looks like it's gonna be a long night."
Johnny asked, "You just drinking soda... why you hanging out here? Don't tell me you're staying down at the Dortmer. That place is a health hazard all on it's own."
Tres lifted his fresh soda. "To the Dortmer. The only hotel in the northern hemisphere without cable and Internet. I was tempted just to sleep in the rental car."
Johnny laughed as he lightly slapped Tres on the back. "The only activities they got going on there don't need cable or Internet. Didn't know the brewing business paid so poorly."
OMEGA Destiny Page 24