House of the Silent Moons

by Tom Shepherd

  Tyler grunted. “That speaks volumes.”

  “It cost her life.”

  “I’m very sorry, Capitão,” Suzie said.

  “God help me,” Flávio said wearily. “I suspected João was working for Tsuchiya when he volunteered to accompany me to Pirate space and become a hostage while I negotiated with your family for my defense.”

  “He knew how to find the House of the Silent Moons,” Tyler said. “But not without a pendalux.”

  Flávio nodded. “João also knew I had buried one in my retirement fund on Emily-4.”

  Tyler grunted. “So, I retrieved the loot, including that pendalux, and brought it to you at Port Royal.”

  “Está correto.”

  Wricket appeared beside Tyler. He wiggled his nose. “I see humanoid chicanery has changed little in a thousand years.”

  “Oh, I think we’re just swabbing the upper decks of the SS Chicanery,” Tyler said. “The Capitão has been working for my father, and Tsuchiya, and the Parves, too. Am I correct?”

  “And the Free Enterprise League,” Flávio said with a half-smile.

  “You’re chockablock with surprises. A ruddy quadruple agent?” Suzie said. “Who signs your paycheck?”

  He shrugged. “All of them. But my first loyalty is to your family. To Bianca and J.B. and, yes, to Noah as well. He and I are friends forever.”

  “The jury is still deliberating on the last charge.” Tyler spoke to the bridge crew—Cousin Julieta, Mr. Blue, his Second Wife Lovey Frost, and now Wricket, who perched at the navigation bench. “This is Family business, and I can’t order you to keep a secret that apparently even our enemies know.”

  “We’re all Star Lawyers,” Lovey Frost said. “We’re M-double-I.”

  Mr. Blue nodded. “Let others bear ill tidings. We are your very extended Family, friend Tyler.”

  “Hai, so desu.”

  “I’m already Family,” Julieta said.

  Wricket smiled slightly. “Perhaps humanoids are improving.”

  “Speaking of improvements,” Tyler said. “What did you save in your bag of tricks?”

  Wricket provided a quick summary, and some of the items brought smiles all around. Tyler asked for a full report and Wricket obliged by publishing his annotated inventory on shipwide datacom. The list ran 2,000 pages.

  While curious crew members picked through Wricket’s goodie list, Tyler ordered a course for Terra. He wanted to see the damage to Kansas City. But he couldn’t wait until the last Jump Gate before sitting down with his mother to discuss things before Dad got the news.

  He gave the crew a rest period, put the ship on autopilot, and let Wricket wrestle with the “impossibly obsolete” FTL guidance system.

  Suzie and Tyler withdrew to their quarters and snuggled on the bed, too exhausted to make love. After sleeping a few hours, they showered and ate a light lunch. Chicken cobb salad and wheat breadsticks, followed by tea and buttered biscuits with honey.

  Rested and ready, Tyler activated the Apexcom for instant communication across the vastness of the galaxy. Suzie slid beside him and took his hand.

  Time to call home.

  Twenty-Nine

  His father and mother appeared together in the viewscreen. Tyler had specifically set the link for two-dimensional rather than holographic imagery, because the Tadpole’s MLC did not support holograms. Which was good, because he wanted them flat on the screen, not roaming the cabin around him.

  Noah’s hair had silvered a little more than Tyler remembered, especially at the temples. His mother’s dark blonde mane concealed a few lighter threads, but her classical Castilian face was as beautiful as ever.

  “Bueno. You are both well,” Bianca said.

  “I lost a crew member. A Dengathi named Arrupt Kilub Riff. He sacrificed himself to save Julieta. The whole ship, actually.”

  “Wasn’t he that pirate you sprang to assist your plan?” Noah said.

  “Yes, sir. But he became a member of this crew.”

  “We’ve lost thousands,” Noah said. “Nicolette Cloutier—”

  “I have her aboard. She’s okay.”

  “Gracias a Dios!” Bianca said. “We were so worried about her. How is Flávio?”

  “To hell with him,” Noah said. “How about the Imperial derelict?”

  “Capitão Tavares is okay, Mom. Also aboard the Tadpole. And we re-captured Tanis Zervos, the escaped spy.”

  “Tyler, the derelict?” Noah said.

  “Yeah…about that.”

  “Please tell me you’ve secured it, and the Wollongong is towing it to safety as planned.”

  “Here’s the thing, Dad—”

  “Mr. Matthews,” Suzie interrupted, “Haruto Tsuchiya was ready to snatch it up and use its technology against M-double-I and God knows who else.”

  “The Imperials had a device that could literally crush worlds—Terra, Mindorius, or any planet they chose—into rubble,” Tyler said. “And other weapons, tools of destruction that nobody should have.”

  Noah sighed. “What did you do? No, let me guess. You blew the goddamn thing up, didn’t you?”

  “Not exactly blew up. I convinced the resident A.I. to drop confinement around the singularity which powered the station. It blew in.”

  “Jesus Christ, Tyler. Two Jump Gates to Andromeda, and now the greatest trove of Imperial technology ever discovered. Gone.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did you save anything?”

  “Absolutely! Good stuff, too. I’ll send you a full report. There is a lot of history and literature in the archives, but you’ll be pleased with a few items of non-lethal technology.”

  “Like?”

  “Universal translators that affix to the clothing. Advanced teleportation technology. Directions to dial alternate locations on Jump Gates—”

  “Wait, one thing at a time. I’ll read the report.”

  Tyler smiled grimly. “I think we need to discuss something else. And this won’t be fun.”

  “I know who J.B.’s biological father is,” Noah said.

  Tyler’s mouth dropped open. “So, Mom told you.”

  “She did, but it wasn’t necessary.” Noah glanced at his wife. “J.B. was born with Ursus Dormiens Syndrome, subject to bouts of depression broken by fits of rage. Your trip to Adao cured him of the disorder. It’s a genetic abnormality. No history of in my family or your mother’s, but Flávio’s grandfather had UDS.”

  “You’ve always known,” Tyler said.

  “Makes no difference.” Noah took Bianca’s hand. “Jeremiah Berechiah Matthews is my son. In fact, I wanted to name him Tyler Noah IV, but your mother talked me out of it. That’s how you got the dubious honor.”

  “We’ve got to tell Jerry,” Tyler said. He never called his brother by J.B.’s preferred nickname, but now it seemed appropriate.

  His mother nodded. “Sí, lo sé.”

  “Dad, I know you’ve got a network of superspies, but did you know that Flávio has another son by a woman who died? His wife was Parvian intelligence.”

  “Jool-Gheri Zarx?” Noah said. “I knew he was seeing her.”

  Suzie and Tyler exchanged dumbfounded looks. He said, “We met a young Parvian lieutenant with that exact name.”

  “Jool-Gheri is a name descended from ancient Parvian nobility. Often given to the firstborn female in each generation,” Noah said. “You must have met someone from the Zarx family.”

  “Yes,” Suzie said. “Right delightful young lady.”

  “She might be J.B.’s step-cousin,” Noah said.

  “Well, now we definitely need to tell him, because our Jool-Gheri specifically asked if I had a brother. Twice.”

  “At the poker game, and again when she called from the Parvian fleet!” Suzie said. “How did I miss that clue?”

  “We both did.” Tyler turned to his parents. “Where is J.B.?

  “Still in Ounta-Kadiis space,” Noah said. “The trial of Bertram Winther is taking longer than expected. The
whole mess is on hold. There are political complications, bad actors in the government. And Tsuchiya’s agents are on the scene, hungry to recruit allies against the Commonwealth. Rosalie has done her thing, but last I heard it made the situation worse.”

  “I need you to have the Patrick Henry delivered to Mindorius,” Tyler said. “I want to check on Rodney and Arabella. I’ll drop Nicolette at our embassy, and hand over Tanis Zervos to Mindorian authorities. Then we’re going to find J.B. and have this conversation.”

  “Your mother and I should be the ones to tell him.”

  “No, Dad. Let me prepare him first. I know my brother.”

  “I agree with Tyler,” Bianca said.

  “All right. Just don’t blow up anything else, please. Our situation with the First Contact species is tenuous, and we need their exotic ores.” Noah excused himself and left the transmission zone.

  “Thank you, Tyler,” his mother said. “And you, Suzie. Thank your whole crew for risking their lives for us. Again.”

  “Familia es todo,” Suzie said.

  “How are things with Dad?”

  She shrugged. “Noah is Noah. We shout, we argue, we make up. But he loves me. That is my heart’s testimony.”

  “Be careful,” Tyler said. “Tsuchiya wants to eliminate the Family. Even with the Parvians on our side, this war isn’t over yet.”

  “And you, my loves. Going again in harm’s way. May the Virgin protect you.”

  “I’ll contact you after we reach Ounta-Kadiis space.”

  “We have a wedding to plan!” Suzie said. “If I can get your son to discuss dates.”

  “Tyler…”

  “Okay, Mom. We’ll get back to you. I promise.”

  Bianca smirked. “Oh, I am not the one you should worry about, mi hijo. She sits beside you.”

  Tyler managed a smile as the two women cackled together. But his mind was half a galaxy away, with his brother—his half-brother. He made a mental note never to call him that again, even in his thoughts. Biology makes babies, love makes families.

  He thought about his father, married over thirty years, keeping a secret to protect the privacy of his wife. For the first time in a long while, Tyler felt a new respect for the sonuvabitch who wouldn’t play a video game with him at bedtime.

  Maybe life had other surprises yet unborn.

  Announcing a new, spin-off series

  Star Lawyers Origins

  New voices, new characters, new adventures along the timeline of the Star Lawyers Universe.

  Star Lawyers Origins - Book 1 – StarDate

  “Mark, I’m telling you. She’s an alien!”

  Mark Bricchetti is an ordinary, 21st century teenager. Excitement means playing MMOs, reading about dinosaurs, and munching pizza. That’s about to change.

  It starts when best friend, Aaron Hooper, warns him about Keshikka Grant, the new hottie in school. “Mark, I’m telling you. She’s an alien!”

  Well, she did have red-golden hair and yellow eyes. But when Keshikka whispers her phone number to him, Mark has no idea their date will take him to worlds he could not imagine, where the fate of planet Earth lands in his hands. Of course, he will encounter a vast array of aliens, starships, rampaging dinosaurs, and holographic MMOs where you can actually die.

  Stardate shanghaies readers from ordinary life and teleports them into a science fiction, action-driven, deep space adventure, punctuated with humor. For anyone who loves a good tale, middle school to retirement complex.

  “If that girl is an alien, beam me aboard.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Tom Shepherd flew medical evacuation helicopters in Vietnam, where he received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. He has worked as a Japanese linguist, public school teacher, and graduate school instructor.

  Shepherd is originally from Reading, Pennsylvania, but has lived in Alaska, Germany, Indochina, and the Republic of Korea. He spent the balance of his professional career working with churches in the Deep South, California, and the Central Midwest. For over a decade he was Professor of Religious Studies at Unity Institute near Kansas City, Missouri.

  Author of a wide array of articles and bestselling nonfiction books, plus more than twenty plays and two novels for the middle grades, Dr. Shepherd “retired” in 2016 to write novels full time.

  Tom lives with his wife, Carol-Jean, and their genial pit bull, Riley, in Tucson, Arizona. He vows to “keep writing novels until they plant a cactus over my bones.”

  Star Lawyers is his new series, which readers have irreverently described as “Star Trek meets Law & Order.”

  Author’s Notes

  Welcome back to the starship Patrick Henry.

  Except this voyage takes you to Pirate space aboard the creaky, captured Dengathi pirate ship Howling Tadpole. It also reprises the much-acclaimed courtroom cross-examination of Tanis Zervos by Prince Zenna-Zenn, a.k.a., Mr. Blue. And the trial takes place in a Pirate courtroom, where the judge summarily executes convicted defendants and stun blasts court employees who fail to follow instructions.

  What’s not to love about a venue like that?

  While writing the story, I wrestled with problems about how to create shady characters and let them talk authentically, knowing what they will say would be highly offensive in this age of enlightened sensitivities. I thought about making everybody politically correct, but the whole cast of characters—from Tyler to the sneering, racist, violent misogynists whom the Star Lawyers must cross examine—came to see me and demanded freedom to be what they were. And some of them are—well, see the above.

  “Look, Tom,” Tyler said, “there are some bad guys in here. And the good guys don’t always sound nice, either.”

  Suzie added, “But do let us prattle, luv. Your job is to take the ear-bashing from those gits who don’t understand that you are not us.”

  “Oh, that’s peachy. You guys are en route the Ounta-Kadiis League. I’m here on 21st century Terra, explaining to friends and relatives why Captain-Judge Carman uses language that would get him thrown off the bench in any court system in America. He sounds like Donald Trump backstage at a beauty pageant.”

  “You can handle it,” Tyler said. “If the morality trolls arrest you for sacrilegious and salacious content, call us via Apexcom.”

  Well, maybe they’ll give me a discount. My Galactic Credits account at the Bank of Rahjen is running on empty.

  All whining aside, writing this book was a flight of joy. Some sadness, too. And the story continues when Tyler reunites with brother J.B. in Star Lawyers Book 5 – The Stellar Light Conspiracy.

  Look for it in late winter, March 2019.

  (I’m not promising Book 5 will be done by then. But look for it.)

  Dr. Tom

  Tucson, AZ

  December 2018

  PS: I’ve been contacted by Podium about the possibility of bringing out all the Star Lawyers books as a professionally narrated audio book series. More about that when the details are firmed up.

  As Rodney Rooney says, “Wowzers!”

  Matthews Interstellar Industries

  Your first voyage aboard the Patrick Henry?

  You might want to check out Star Lawyers Book 1- Jump Gate Omega, Book 2 -Forbidden Sanctuary, and Book 3 – The Blue King Murders

  You can also visit my webpage and blog, to get a free copy of the series prequel short story, Knife Fight at Olathe-5, and learn how Tyler Matthews acquired his scout ship, the Sioux City: https://shepherdauthor.com/

  Check out my Facebook page, too. (Love them Likes.):

  https://www.facebook.com/tomshepherdauthor/

  And follow me on Twitter:

  https://twitter.com/tomshepherdauth

  There’s even a Tom Shepherd fan group!

  (Yeah…I’m surprised, too. I wonder if they’ll let me join?)

  Let’s keep in touch.

  Tom Shepherd

  Tucson, AZ

  Four Star Lawyers books now available:


  Book 1 – Jump Gate Omega

  Book 2 – Forbidden Sanctuary

  Book 3 – The Blue King Murders

  Star Lawyers Book 4 - House of the Silent Moons

  Watch for Star Lawyers Book 5 –

  The Stellar Light Conspiracy

  March – April 2019

  Sign up for Tom Shepherd’s Newsletter and receive a free copy of the series short-story prequel, “Knife Fight at Olathe-5”.

  Acknowledgments

  Special thanks to my friend Christian Kallias, who designs the covers for the Star Lawyers series. Chris is also an amazing science fiction author. Nobody does Military Space Opera better than Chris Kallias. https://www.christiankallias.com/

  Many thanks to Walter Wartenweiler, my guide and guru through the world of media promos. Check his Facebook page:

  https://www.facebook.com/walter.wartenweiler

  Arrested on an alien world.

  Who you gonna call?

  Matthews Interstellar Industries

  Star Lawyers