by Randal Sloan
Defenders of the Rim: New Earth
A Far Future Sci-Fi Thriller - Book 4
Randal Sloan
Copyright 2019 Randal Sloan All rights reserved.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Thanks to all my readers who are the reason I keep writing the stories I love to tell.
Special thanks to Dean Borden for her most excellent proofreading and Catherine Borden Sloan for copy editing. Your corrections and suggestions were greatly appreciated.
Extra special thanks to my beta readers Gerrit Jan van Brenk, Mem Creagh Webb, II, and Tania Ciza. Your feedback was extremely beneficial.
Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc.
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Contents
1. Galactic Matters
2. Block 85
3. Borjon
4. Things That Must Come Together
5. The Empire Responds
6. Conspiring Events
7. SafeHold
8. Never Turn Down Help
9. Calm Before the Storm
10. Final Prep
11. So It Begins
12. The Battle For Block 85
13. Help Draws Nigh
14. Not All Solutions Require An Iron Fist
15. A New World Order
16. Things Have A Way Of Working Out
Epilogue
Author's Page
Chapter 1
Galactic Matters
Events were coming together on the planet New Earth that would soon assume galactic importance. Just no one knew it yet. As usual, it revolved around the humans.
Master Sergeant Robert Gibbons of the Galactic Imperial Marines had been rather unhappy with their situation, despite the stunt he’d pulled off with the package he had delivered to their assignment. He’d followed his orders, at least the spirit of them, but he didn’t want to be here. It didn’t help that the place was a virtual paradise. Imperial Marines didn’t take vacations, especially not when they needed to be elsewhere. No!
Truthfully, he was more worried than angry — his Princess had sent them off to this tropical island resort while she herself had gone away into danger once again. I need to be there! What if something happens to her? The last time I was away from her, she almost died. I will never forgive myself if something like that happens again.
Never mind that it was her orders that had sent him here. It still wasn’t good. Despite his fear and anger, he hadn’t taken it out on his men. Oh, he’d worked them hard, running them for miles along the beach and then forcing them to swim back. That was just what Marines did. They were lucky they weren’t doing it with a full pack. That was coming soon. At first the two on rehab got to ride for the beach run, but the swimming they could do too and he pushed them. By the end of the second week, he had them running too, just not the whole distance.
He was thinking about getting the men to build a temporary obstacle course and pushing them through that while using a small part of the package when his thoughts were interrupted. It was Jackson, who as his second in charge had been one of the men he’d sent into the New Earth city called York that sat just across the channel from them. They’d been working on the mission the Princess had given them, mostly something she used as an excuse to send them away, but still Robert had made sure they followed through with those orders.
Robert rather quickly realized that the Princess had been right about that part. She’d said something was just a little off about this planet and she was right. Despite their lack of progress to date, no matter what else he intended to figure it out. Time was beginning to run out and he didn’t want to tell her that they’d failed.
“There’s someone here you need to talk to,” Corporal Jackson told him, indicating the three teenage girls behind him. “These three overheard a conversation that I believe you’ll be quite anxious to hear.”
The master sergeant looked over the three girls. He could tell that they’d not had it easy. Their clothing was coarse and while clean, was certainly not pristine or fashionable, and they appeared somewhat malnourished, making it hard to guess their ages. He actually suspected that they were of an age similar to his Princess. That would make them more young adults than teens. That question was quickly resolved when one of them spoke.
The tallest of the three, a blond, was the one who spoke up. “I’m Missy, she’s Sissy and the redhead hiding behind me is Krissy. We have the protection rights on block 85.”
She saw the look that crossed the Master Sergeant’s face. “Yeah, we’re not just three pretty faces. We keep the gangs under control on our block and we make sure the young children get enough to eat.”
“There’s a whole network of others just like them,” Jackson told his Master Sergeant. “I can tell you the Princess will want to know about their situation, but that’s not exactly why they’re here now.”
“There’s a plot to overthrow the government by a group of aliens,” Missy said in excitement. “It’s about to happen and I fear it may be too late to stop it!”
Robert didn’t hesitate. Something told him if he waited, he wouldn’t be able to get a message out. The Princess needed to know this. “Jackson, get us an outgoing message sent out ASAP. Use our emergency command codes, the ones given us by the Princess. That’s the only way you’ll get it through to her.”
Jackson gave a whistle. “Even with your command codes, that’s going to take a little time, Sarge. We’ll have to get a com drone sent from the provisional governor’s office and you know the red tape that’ll take, even for an emergency signal.”
“Best be about it then. I’ll have a message ready for you well before you’re done, but something tells me time is of the essence. Oh, and send Johnson in. I’m going to need him to go pick up our little package from the spaceport.”
“I’ll do my best, Sarge,” Jackson told him. “Good day, girls,” he said as he turned to leave. One didn’t hesitate when given orders by the Master Sergeant. Not more than once.
Something told Robert that this was even more important than this single planet. That was the other reason he knew he had to get the Princess involved. He didn’t know how he knew it, but whatever was about to happen would have galactic importance. Only the Princess would know what to do, he was certain of that.
“Come with me,” the Master Sergeant told the girls as he led them down the hallway that led to the dining area of the resort facility he and his Marines had to themselves. It was in-between meals, so the place was deserted.
He gave them his best smile, wanting to put them at ease. “Please call me Robert. I’m going to need to hear everything you know about this plot you’ve overheard.”
“Just who is this Princess?” Missy asked him as they settled into the chairs.
“Oh, you’ll find out,” the Sarge told her. “Your life will never be the same.”
Somewhere in some part of the universe in what was neither entirely real space nor entirely hyperspace, an object of obscure features sat suspended in the non-space found there. That object was the only existing space station left behind by the ones simply known as the Forerunners, as the humans and their alien contemporaries called them. Created for a special purpose, the station had technologies beyond anything in the galaxy, but those technologies were jealously guarded.
The only entity on board was an AI left behind by his creators for the purpose of supporting the Prophecies of his people. Adrihel, as the AI called himself, was much more powerful than any other AI in existence in the galaxy, and yet he was worried. His capability with emotions was one of the t
hings that set him apart from any contemporary AI’s created by the current peoples of the galaxy, but right now that wasn’t much consolation.
Adriel knew his latest actions walked a fine line between what was considered acceptable by his people and what they considered should not be done. Nevertheless, he had the charges given him by his creators and he saw no other way to accomplish them. Even if it involved a little grey area!
Most of his work revolved around helping to ensure the Prophecies they’d given to the galactic races would still be successful. Those Prophecies were the work of their best psychics and they had come as closely as possible to accurately predicting the future, to the point that to the other races the Prophecies appeared to be infallible and to some extent they were. But the problem, and the reason Adrihel was here, was that the further out one looked, the less accurate the future must be, for a tiny change at a critical time could make all the difference. Sort of a timestream version of what the humans called the Butterfly Effect.
Hence Adrihel. He was there for the sole purpose of providing a conduit to communicate with certain individuals at those critical time periods — the ones the Prophecies indicated were of prime importance at certain periods within the timestream. One such critical event had just taken place — the conflict between the Aerstone First Sentinel and the young human Jarra and her small team of exceptional people.
The destruction of the First Sentinel had been essential for any possibility of the successful fulfillment of the Prophecies, but it was only the first step. Adrihel’s decision to leave a small part of himself in the human Sara in order to save her from the coma she suffered after that intense battle with the First Sentinel was not entirely done because of an unselfish desire. She would be needed in the future; that is, her hacking ability was essential for the future the oracles saw.
Even now the future success of their endeavors was not a given. The First Sentinel had done much damage during his time in control of the Aerstone Dark Council and much of his plans were still in motion. At the current point in time, if the humans and their allies attempted to directly oppose the Aerstone, their efforts would be unsuccessful and the intent of the First Sentinel to destroy all biological life in the galaxy would still reach its ultimate success.
What the humans needed was time — time for the allies the Golden One had gained in Aerstone space to grow strong enough to make a difference, time for the Aerstone to face their own internal conflict and make decisions regarding their future. The Ayden oracles had foreseen the only way to get that time was to allow something to happen that the humans would never condone on their own. It just wasn’t in their nature to allow a problem to go unresolved without trying to find an immediate solution. They certainly wouldn’t have deliberately chosen the solution the oracles had foreseen, but still it was a way for it to happen. The events were beginning to come together to provide that delay.
Adrihel knew enough from meeting the Golden One that even she would not be able to hear the full truth yet. He would have to be very careful to only give her a little bit of it at a time. Just enough that with her strong sense of duty and her amazing team she would find the right path to make come about what must be.
The other tenant of the Ayden oracles’ plan was to find a way to salvage the Aerstone people from the damage done to them, and the possibility for that future was just now coming to the forefront. Its most critical juncture in the timestream was going to be reached soon, and without an intervention, that opportunity might well be lost. If that happened, even if the rest of the Prophecies were successful, Adrihel would have failed in his mission.
Many of the seeds had already been planted within the words of the Prophecies, but Adrihel was ready as needed to provide the small things the humans must have to achieve the goals before them. He now had a close point of contact within them, even though that had not been the intent when he had given the human Sara that small piece of himself. No, that had been entirely for the purpose of saving her, and at that it had been successful even if it had been a very close thing.
Still, Adrihel would not pass up the opportunity that presented him. It was not quite time yet, but soon he would need to send a message. That was only the first step in the upcoming events that must take place, but it was an important one.
Oddly, Adrihel had come to look upon the Golden One and her team and family as ones that were important to him. That meant he would have to be especially careful in his next few endeavors. Already he felt a strong desire to protect them.
He wouldn’t want to win a single battle and yet lose this war they were fighting. He also didn’t want anything to happen to his new friends. Yes, he would have to walk quite the fine line.
High Master Barsyan of the Octarian Order of the Absolute Truth sighed as he once more ended another day of purely administrative duties. For once in his long, long life he chafed at the wait before him. He had touched the mind of the Golden One from the Prophecies, the human with the golden hair, and he longed to meet with her in person. She had an amazing essence about her and that brief touch had been enough for him to become enamored with her.
The Master longed for that meeting, for already he had come to care for the One who only days before had been just a person of interest in the Prophecies the Order followed. Yes, he had known of her and her importance, but because he’d been forbidden to speak with her until the proper time, she’d only been an icon from the Prophecies.
That was no longer true after he spoke with her mind to mind. Her psychic touch was amazing, a shining vision once he felt it, and he longed to be close enough to feel it completely. But it was not yet time and he would have to wait, something normally he could do very well after many centuries of practice. Just not this time.
It wasn’t like he had done everything that he still had to do. There was much to be done before the meeting could take place. He had yet to make his journey to the High King of Octavia to tell him of the upcoming events. Not that he expected any problems; the High King was as dedicated to the Prophecies as the Master himself. The Master even considered him a friend, often talking mind-to-mind with his friend, usually from a long distance.
Very seldom had the two met in person, the coronation of the king and other special events spanning over the last few centuries, but such a personal meeting was going to be happening again soon. After the king learned of his upcoming duty, they would take the trip together out to the Octarian Rim to meet with the humans.
But the Master knew some time remained before everything he desired could take place. His strong psychic ability told him that other tasks were yet to be fulfilled and those must take place beforehand. Psychic visions were like looking across a range of mountains from a distance. Only the mountaintops were visible, with the valleys in between hidden as well as the lesser mountains.
The Master suspected that was the circumstance this time. He saw only the mountains that represented his interaction with the Golden One. But it appeared there was a smaller one in between, one no less important, just obscured from view until one grew close enough to see it.
That appeared to be the case now, if his interpretation of his current visions was correct. That psychic foresight also told him that he would have some small part to play in those upcoming events, but not what his part would be. Not yet.
The Master knew the only thing he could do was prepare himself in meditation. Until he discovered what must be done, he would have to wait patiently. Only when everything was complete could he begin his journey. Still it was not easy for him to wait for that completion. The wait before now had already been many centuries, but he guessed he was just finally growing old. Whatever the reason, he longed to be done with his duty.
He laughed at himself. You would think I was a youngster of only a scant few centuries the way I’m acting, wanting to rush into things. Only the youngest Octarian would ever do such, but as one matured, he learned to spend his time carefully planning everything before doing something. Wit
h all his centuries, the Master should have epitomized maturity.
Still at times when dealing with Prophecy, a faster reaction was called for. He suspected that now was the case. Best be about it, he told himself. The sooner I get the tasks before me done, the sooner I can prepare myself for that future meeting.
Dropping with ease into his meditative state, the Master began a search across the galaxy, casting his mind out broadly. Something would happen soon, something that would tell him what prophetic events were taking place that required his attention.
He smiled in his mind as he mentally passed over the Golden One. She was not quite back to her complete self, the strain of the near loss of one of her own obvious in her outward mental reflection, but she still shone gloriously to his mind. Who would have thought humanity would have produced such a powerful psychic mind, although he remembered a few humans he had experienced from a distance in the past centuries.
Some of those had been ancestors of this current paladin of humanity, so perhaps he shouldn’t be too surprised. Alas, the Prophecies had forbidden his involvement with any of them, so he’d never had the opportunity to “taste” their minds so directly.
Once again the Master couldn’t help but wonder just why it was that the humans, the last of the galactic races to reach out into the stars, were so critical to the events of the Prophecies. Perhaps it was due to their short, short lives that the humans did everything with such urgency. That was why they were quick to see things others missed and that was why, when events required an immediate solution, they found a way to get it done.