The Galactic Sentinel: Ultimate Edition: 4 Books with 2000+ Pages of Highly Entertaining Sci-Fi Space Adventure

by Killian Carter

  He was just getting comfortable when the door opened again and Minister Straiya entered, looking more disheveled than he’d ever seen her. Things must be worse than Roshi was letting on.

  A boot pushed through the door before it closed, and Taza walked in after the Shanti, nodding to Grimshaw.

  “Good to see you’re okay, Captain,” Taza said.

  Grimshaw didn’t know much about Taza’s past, but he was aware that he’d served under Minister Straiya when he worked for the SIA. “I see you two have been reacquainted.”

  Grimshaw could have sworn Straiya’s face darkened with embarrassment, but he suspected it might have been the sedative. He flicked the plastic tube jutting from his wrist. “What the hell do they put in this juice. It’s strong stuff.”

  Taza leaned against the wall, looking proud, yet there was something sheepish in the way he moved. Straiya cleared her throat and straightened her robes. Grimshaw suddenly realized what was going on.

  “It’d be nice if we could stop meeting in the hospital like this,” he said, eager to change the subject before things got even more awkward. “What have I missed? Where’s Clio? Doctor Roshi said he couldn’t answer my questions.”

  “We’ve had to keep a tight control on information, to be on the safe side,” Straiya said, her usual iron-like resolve returning.

  “A lot has changed,” Taza said, shooting Minister Straiya a troubled look. “But let’s start with Clio. She and her team took down Chimera’s operation in the Data District. It brought the Sentinel’s systems back online. Chimera did a good number on the city, but it would have been much worse if not for Clio.”

  “I knew we could count on her,” Grimshaw said, feeling like a proud father. “She’s come a long way.”

  Taza looked at Straiya with a darkened expression gain.

  “Why do you keep looking at Minister Straiya like something is wrong?” Grimshaw tried to sit upright, but a stabbing pain across his chest sent him back into his pillow. “What happened?”

  Straiya’s tail swept from side to side nervously. “We didn’t want to tell you until you’d recovered, but SenSec arrested Clio and her team.”

  “They’ve been convicted of treason,” Taza said.

  “Treason? But they stopped Chimera!” Grimshaw sat up, ignoring the pain and got a rush of blood to the head. “And what do you mean convicted. It can’t have gone to court already?”

  “The people took to the streets to riot. They were looking for someone to blame. The Council called for a flash trial and held a hearing in the Closed Chamber.”

  “Fucking Council,” Grimshaw growled unapologetically. He could hardly believe what he was hearing and thought that he might still be unconscious and in some kind of nightmare, though the stabbing pain told him otherwise. He’d spent six grueling months trying to convince the lumbering Galactic Council to make minor changes in order to minimize casualties in the outer colonies in case of another Aphnai attack. They refused to budge one iota. Yet, they willingly bent over backwards in a day when it meant saving their own asses. He looked to Straiya. “You have to do something.”

  The Shanti looked at him with something in her eyes Grimshaw hadn’t seen before—defeat and resignation. She drew a breath as if to brace herself. “I’m afraid I’m no longer a Minister, but don’t worry, they haven’t scheduled the execution yet.”

  “Execution?” Grimshaw half jumped off the bed, but a tangle of wires held him down. He started plucking them from his skin, the machines objecting with their various cries.

  Straiya approached holding her hands up. “Calm down, Aegis.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down. This is bullshit! We’ve gotta get them out of there!”

  “You’re in no position to do any such thing,” Taza reprimanded. “Brash decisions aren’t going to help the situation. There’s nothing we can do right now.”

  “The hell there’s nothing we can do.” Grimshaw wasn’t about to let a criminal lecture him about brash decision.

  He pulled the cannula from his wrist and swung his legs off the bed. As his bare feet touched the cold floor, lights danced around his head. Every surface bent and wobbled as the room folded in on itself.

  The next thing he knew, Straiya stood over him, her robes smeared red. She disappeared from view and was replaced by Doctor Roshi.

  “Pick him up off the floor,” the Shanti doctor said.

  Two orderlies appeared over Grimshaw. The room lurched as they lay him on the bed and started hooking him back up to the machines.

  “His liver is struggling to cope with nanite byproducts. When nanite waste reaches the organs, it can create imbalances in hormone regulation. Grimshaw’s serotonin and adrenaline levels have spiked. We need to reduce his nanite-count before too much waste reaches his brain. It’ll mean an increase in regeneration time, of course. Normally, it wouldn’t be too much of a concern, but we don’t know how his fury implant will react, especially since he used it.”

  “Do what it takes to get him back on his feet,” Straiya ordered, a hard edge creeping back into her voice. “Grimshaw’s right. We can’t loiter here while the Sentinel falls apart around our ears. We need to do something. I don’t know what that something is, but I know we’ll need Grimshaw’s help.”

  One of the orderlies pressed a syringe into Grimshaw’s wrist and his muscles relaxed. For all his trying, his limbs refused to move. Clio and the others needed him. He couldn’t let them die. He tried one last time to sit up, but his weary body paid no heed to his commands. His eyes closed slowly, and his awareness sank into oblivion.

  Grimshaw opened his bleary eyes and moaned as pain raked his body. He tried to move, but his muscles refused to do more than twitch. Tilting his head forward slightly to see if anyone else was in the room was about all he could muster.

  “Andrews?” he croaked, his throat dry and lips cracked.

  She looked up at him from behind a book and gold-rimmed glasses. “Good to see you’re finally awake, Captain.”

  Andrews set the book aside and climbed out of her chair. She folded her glasses into a breast pocket as she walked toward him. She drew a small torch from her medical-grade SIG and shone it in each of his eyes, her tongue clicking. “Looks like the sedative is wearing off.”

  “Good to see you, Andrews. It’s been…a while.”

  The former Confederation Fleet medic leaned in and held a cup of water to Grimshaw’s mouth. He swallowed for as long as he could bear the pain.

  Andrews briefly checked the medical machine’s readings. “The last time we met was the day the others departed for Fleet Academy Seven.”

  “That seems like so long ago,” Grimshaw muttered.

  “It feels like another life time for sure,” she agreed.

  Andrews and a handful of other Colony 115 survivors had opted to remain on the Sentinel. Most left with the Confederation Marines and a few had filtered out since then. Straiya had found work for those who had remained. “How has your new assignment been?”

  “It’s like any other medical facility really. Run off my feet most days. Barely time for food or sleep.” She sniffed as though savoring the air. “But the Aegi Order have taken good care of me.”

  “It’s a far cry from Colony 115,” he ventured.

  The blood suddenly drained from her face, and she turned away, checking on the medical monitor. “I’d rather not talk about that, sir.”

  “Of course,” Grimshaw said as sympathetically as he could manage in his state. “I apologize.”

  “No need, sir. I try to focus on my work so I can…forget.” She looked at him with pain in her eyes. “The nightmares…”

  “I understand, Andrews.” He tried to sit up and winced in pain.

  “Let me turn your pain meds back on. Doctor Roshi had them stopped to allow your liver time to recover, but you should be fine now.” She operated her SIG, and Grimshaw felt immediate relief.

  He drew his first deep breath since waking. “That’s a lot better.�
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  “Doctor Roshi has finished his shift. But he’ll be glad to see you when he gets back.”

  “I’ve been out that long?” Grimshaw said with surprise.

  “You’ve been asleep for the guts of a day.”

  Panic suddenly flared in his chest. “Evans and the others…I need to speak with Minister Straiya.”

  “She’s already on her way,” Andrews said, trying her best to sound reassuring. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but try to remain calm, and it would be best if you remained in your bed this time.”

  “Of course,” was all he could manage, the magnitude of his conversation with Straiya and Taza flooding back.

  Andrews tapped her SIG. “On the bright side, your life-signs are all looking good.”

  “How long before I can leave?” he said, groaning as he shifted into a more comfortable position. The pain meds had dulled the pain but didn’t do much for the stabbing in his chest.

  “Patience, sir. Doctor Roshi will be back on shift again soon. He’ll update you on your progress. I’m merely…filling in.”

  He nodded. “Thank you, Andrews.”

  “I’ll go see what’s taking Straiya so long.”

  “Sure,” he mumbled, his thoughts drifting back to Colony 115 as Andrews left.

  He recalled how she had taken the lead in caring for the sick and dying after the Bakura and several drop-ships had crash-landed outside Targos City. It had been less than an Earth year ago, yet it felt like a decade.

  Grimshaw got lost in his thoughts and drifted in and out of sleep, losing all sense of time.

  When his door slid open to reveal Straiya, his throat had gone dry once again, but the medication had dulled the pain to the point where he could fetch the cup of water from the table unassisted.

  “I hope you’re more…relaxed,” the Shanti Minister said, entering the room with an Aegis close on her heels.

  Grimshaw recognized the Rivarian warrior. It was Zantho from the seventh floor of Sentinel Tower. He thought the Aegis had died.

  “The Thandrall merely incapacitated us, though I thought I’d died too.” Zantho said, noticing Grimshaw’s surprise. “The medic brought me back around after Chimera cleared out. Several of the guards made it too. Harnuck on the other hand…”

  Straiya placed a hand on Zantho’s shoulder, and he ambled into the corner, watching Grimshaw intently, despite his dejected demeanor.

  Grimshaw looked at Straiya. The Shanti seemed to be maintaining some distance. Did I hurt the Minister before I passed out?

  “I must apologize for my behavior—”

  “Apology accepted, Aegis,” Straiya butted in before he could finish. “Your body went into distress. Think nothing of it.”

  Zantho grunted as though to point out that Grimshaw owed Straiya more than an apology.

  “I was the victim of my own haste, yet again,” the Shanti continued. “I tried to rush you. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson by now.”

  Grimshaw wet his cracked lips. “Any update on SenSec?”

  “Evans and the others are fine…for now,” she said. “We’ve got a plan. I’m afraid it involves moving you out of here soon.”

  Grimshaw sat up, surprised to find that even the stabbing had subsided. “Is anyone going to update me on what exactly is going on?” The question evoked a glance of unease between Straiya and Zantho. “Don’t worry. I’ll hold it together this time.”

  Straiya nodded to the Rivarian Aegis, and he walked to the wall opposite Grimshaw’s feet.

  “It’ll be easier if we show you,” Zantho said, detaching a projection module from his SIG and attaching it to the wall.

  Straiya gestured to the module as it activated, casting a blue, rectangular display across the wall. “It’s a news cast from this morning.”

  Grimshaw was about to ask why they were showing him the news when a pale-looking Minister Foster appeared on the display. He stood behind a podium on a raised platform, giving no sign that he had been badly wounded only a few days previous. Grimshaw figured he had also received nanite and regen treatment. The area around him appeared damaged, and it took Grimshaw a few seconds to realize the human Minister was in Sentinel Square, roughly where the stage had been during the ceremony.

  A crowd of reporters and journalists expanded before him, bustling with energy in anticipation for their next big story. A swarm of recording spheres buzzed overhead, zipping and weaving as they competed for the best view.

  Every Minister, bar Straiya and Orren, stood off to one side, behind Foster. Even Minister Zakahr was present, the Tal’ri’s environmental TEK looking like something out of a horror show. Three strange, hooded figures stood over Foster’s other shoulder, watching the crowd from under their dark robes.

  It seemed Foster was making a statement, holding such a gathering out in the open where much of the fighting had taken place.

  Needless to say, the square was heavily guarded by countless SenSec officers, SIA agents, the Tower Guards, and other guards in dark-green TEKs Grimshaw didn’t recognize. He figured they were members of a third-party security company the Council had brought in to be on the safe side.

  “Thank you for attending this press gathering at such short notice,” Foster said, his amplified voice booming. The noisy crowd quietened. “Some have voiced their concerns about holding such a meeting on Sentinel Square but know that we do so in the spirit of transparency. Neither will we be swayed by the actions of a few terrorists.”

  Several members of the crowd gave half-hearted cries of agreement.

  “We have been through a great ordeal,” Foster continued. “However, it is not our first. When the Kragak attempted to take the Sentinel three hundred years ago, High Minister Izmark created the Galactic Council and drove them away. Even as recent as forty-four years ago, the Thandrall attempted to take control of the Council. We weeded them out and ousted them from among us.”

  Dozens shouted in victory, louder than before.

  Foster motioned to the three cloaked figures at his shoulder. “This time, however, the Thandrall acted as our allies. I give you their leader, Captain Artax.”

  Grimshaw couldn’t help but balk as one of the cloaked figures took a step forward and dropped his hood, revealing Artax.

  “That’s the Thandrall who attacked me,” Grimshaw said, almost stumbling over his words. “He led the attack on Sentinel Tower.”

  “Did you happen upon a Thandrall named Dryell, or did you hear anyone speak that name?” Straiya asked. “Lerosse mentioned it to Taza in connection with the Thandrall.”

  Grimshaw thought it through. “I haven’t heard the name, but it could be another name for Artax.”

  The Thandrall figures on the stage finished bowing deeply before stepping back into line, the crowd gasping and muttering.

  Grimshaw was about to speak, but Straiya motioned for him to keep watching. “There’s more.”

  “No need to fear, citizens of the Sentinel. I have been working with Artax and his people for some time. They are good people who deeply regret the actions of their forebears. If not for Artax and his team, we wouldn’t have known about the terrorist attack. Without them, the Sentinel would have been destroyed!”

  That quelled the brewing uproar, though more than a few of those gathered still looked at each other unsure.

  “Who were these terrorists?” a Shanti asked, stepping toward the podium.

  Foster paused before answering and made a show of seeming forlorn. “I am sad to say that Straiya led the attack.”

  “Absurd!” the Shanti journalist said.

  But the crowd, who Grimshaw was just noticing consisted mainly of Vargs, Rivarians, and Yalore, cried out in anger, cursing Straiya and the Shanti species. The crowd pressed in and the Shanti journalist melted into the press.

  Foster held his hands up and they calmed down once again. Grimshaw was amazed at the control he held over the crowd. He wondered if the Thandrall were doing something to manipulate them.

 
; “Believe me!” Foster’s voice rang out louder. “I wish it weren’t true. However, when we discovered this ugly truth, SenSec raided Straiya’s offices and found some very damning evidence. Not only was she involved with the terrorists. It appears that she founded the group.”

  Another gasp rippled through the crowd, one individual even calling out for Straiya’s head.

  “How did she manage such a thing?” Another Shanti called out only to be booed.

  “Through our investigations, we discovered that a former SIA agent known as Taza Arkona, has been helping Straiya amass an army behind the scenes. We believe he is also responsible for the gang wars in the Underways.”

  Grimshaw’s heart sank, and he wondered how Taza had reacted when first watching it. I promised him I’d help him off the Sentinel. There isn’t a hope I can come good on my word now. Any chance of getting the North Star back is long gone.

  One of the few humans asked the next question. “I remember Taza Arkona. He was one of the first Terrans elected to the position of Archagent. Wasn’t he killed in an explosion, in the Sentinel shipping lanes, years ago?”

  “I covered that story too,” a Yalore added.

  “That was our understanding also,” Foster explained. “We aren’t sure how he pulled it off, but it would seem that Taza Arkona is alive and well.”

  A Rivarian reporter pushed forward and Foster gestured for her to speak. “High Minister, where are Straiya and Grimshaw now?”

  Foster waved his hand and the VD showed a bird’s eye view of the Data District. Far below, among a sea of small structures, heavily armed SenSec officers milled about and SenSec car-lights flashed. “As you see here, members of Grimshaw’s team were apprehended during the attack. They hacked the Sentinel’s security systems, causing much of the mayhem you witnessed mere days ago.”

  The camera zoomed in to reveal Sergeant Chin and his officers securing several figures. One of them looked up at the camera. Grimshaw saw it was Clio, and his chest tightened. The display cut back to the gathering on Sentinel Square.

  “While this was going on, Grimshaw attacked the Sentinel Tower. He came after us Ministers. In a feeble attempt to make herself seem innocent, Minister Straiya entered the Tower’s safe-room with Farmorai and I, though I recall little for I was injured in the attack.” Foster swept his arm, taking in the other Ministers, and Farmorai nodded. The crowd’s anger began to simmer. “Fortunately, Artax and the brave Tower Guard fought Grimshaw and his people off, but not before he murdered my father.” Foster’s voice broke and he hung his head low.