Battlegroup (StarFight Series Book 2)

by T. Jackson King

  “Good idea. Before you do that, let’s rescue some vacsuited people. Then I need to use your pheromone translator to give a message to this Hunter One.”

  Jacob couldn’t resist. “What message?”

  His father smiled, though it was a pale smile. “I call it MAB. Mutually Assured Benefit. Wanna send that ship off with a cartoon video and pheromone talk that says Let’s Trade. You tell us about any one gee worlds you find in your colony searches. We’ll do the same for half gee worlds. Think they’ll go for it?”

  Jacob didn’t know. But he recalled ending this interstellar war had been one of the two jobs assigned to his father by the Unity and by Earth Command.

  “They might. Especially if that wasp ship shares its vidrecords of this last battle.” A thought hit him. “Sir, three of Earth’s colonies have half gee worlds lying closer to their sun than we like. Do you mean to suggest we share our colony systems with the wasps?”

  The man shrugged. “Maybe yes, maybe no. At the least with MAB they will know we will tell them the locations of future half gee worlds we find that resemble oxy-rich jungles. They’ll do the same for us with any cooler, one gee worlds they find. It’s a start to doing something other than fight.”

  Below him Richard spoke. “Greed might be stronger than blood.”

  His father looked startled, then thoughtful. “Chief O’Connor, you have a good point. I’ll use it when next I talk to Unity pollies.” Then he looked up. “Captain Renselaer, I think we need to send a ship along with that wasp ship when it heads back to Kepler 22. If more wasp fleets show up there, our ship could give us an early warning here. You got any suggestions for that monitoring ship?”

  Jacob looked down to Daisy. She looked up and nodded, her dark brown face somber but hopeful. He looked up.

  “Sir, I think the Battlestar Lepanto could handle lookout duty at Kepler 22.”

  “Good. But don’t be in a rush to leave. That wasp ship will be heading out real slow. Could take them a month or three to get to the magnetosphere. Plenty of time for our fifteen ships to start rebuilding O’Sullivan’s station. And time to head down to Stockholm. Does that place have any good bars?”

  Jacob almost laughed. His father was not a heavy drinker, sticking mostly with Scotch and some craft beers. But he had no doubt the Midway’s crew were eager to enjoy a planetside liberty after nearly two months in space to get to Kepler 10, and then fighting two deadly battles against an alien enemy that never gave up.

  “Plenty of them,” Jacob said. “There’s one Daisy and I like. Down near its central park. The Valhallans like to do recreations of famous Viking battles in that park. Makes for fun watching when you have a beer or two in hand.”

  His father laughed. It was the first laugh he’d heard in too many years. The man who had raised him to be a copy of himself now looked down at his command people. “Marjorie and Thompson both like craft beers. Even colonial stuff. We’ll join you, after we haul in as many vacsuits as we can find.”

  Jacob thought of Billy O’Sullivan. The man was a happy drinker of beer and most anything else. He hoped the captain now whizzed above the white clouds of Valhalla, keeping order by vacsuit comlink among his fellow station escapees.

  “We’ll join you. Lepanto out.”

  Jacob looked down to where Daisy sat, still strapped in like all of them. Sweat showed on her dark brown neck. Perhaps sensing his gaze, she looked up. The oval face, brown eyes, sharp nose and happy look were just part of what he loved about her. She looked him over, clearly wondering.

  “XO, how about you and I take out your LCA to search for station folks. Chief O’Connor can handle the Bridge. You game?”

  “Very much game,” she said, unlocking her straps and standing up.

  Jacob did the same. He stepped down from his seat, turned to face Richard, and said what was needed.

  “Transferring command of the Battlestar Lepanto to you, chief. And bring in your Darts. I wish Aaron and Wayne could also return.”

  “Command accepted, Captain Renselaer.” The grizzled, tough man who had taught Jacob much about dealing with the reality of deadly combat gave a sigh. “I wish they could too. Goes with the job. Now get out there and grab some vacsuits.”

  “I will. We will.”

  And with that Jacob took hold of Daisy’s hand and headed for the Bridge exit.

  Lori and Carlos watched them. Those two were also holding hands, perhaps feeling the same relief he and Daisy felt at living through a terrible battle that had claimed too many ships and lives.

  “Jacob, the ghosts will rest now,” Daisy said.

  He hoped so. “Maybe they will.”

  Together in hope, together in love, they walked through the open slidedoor and into a future less deadly than the present.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  T. Jackson King (Tom) is a professional archaeologist, journalist and retired Hippie. He learned early on to question authority and find answers for himself, thanks to reading lots of science fiction. He also worked at a radiocarbon dating laboratory at UC Riverside and UCLA. Tom attended college in Paris and Tokyo. He is a graduate of UCLA (M.A. 1976, archaeology) and the University of Tennessee (B.Sc. 1971, journalism). He has worked as an archaeologist in the American Southwest and has traveled widely in Europe, Russia, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Other jobs have included short order cook, hotel clerk, legal assistant, telephone order taker, investigative reporter and newspaper editor. He also survived the warped speech-talk of local politicians and escaped with his hide intact. Tom writes hard science fiction, anthropological scifi, dark fantasy/horror and contemporary fantasy/magic realism. Tom’s novels are BATTLESTAR (2016), DEFEAT THE ALIENS (2016), FIGHT THE ALIENS (2016), FIRST CONTACT (2015), ESCAPE FROM ALIENS (2015), ALIENS VS. HUMANS (2015), FREEDOM VS. ALIENS (2015), HUMANS VS. ALIENS (2015), GENECODE ILLEGAL (2014), EARTH VS. ALIENS (2014), ALIEN ASSASSIN (2014), THE MEMORY SINGER (2014), ANARCHATE VIGILANTE (2014), GALACTIC VIGILANTE (2013), NEBULA VIGILANTE (2013), SPEAKER TO ALIENS (2013), GALACTIC AVATAR (2013), STELLAR ASSASSIN (2013), STAR VIGILANTE (2012), THE GAEAN ENCHANTMENT (2012), LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD (2010), ANCESTOR’S WORLD (1996, with A.C. Crispin), and RETREAD SHOP (1988, 2012). His short stories appeared in JUDGMENT DAY AND OTHER DREAMS (2009). His poetry appeared in MOTHER EARTH’S STRETCH MARKS (2009). Tom lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA with his wife Sue. More information on Tom’s writings can be found at www.tjacksonking.com/.

  PRAISE FOR T. JACKSON KING’S BOOKS

  EARTH VS. ALIENS

  “This story is the best space opera I've read in many years. The author knows his Mammalian Behavior. If we’re lucky it’ll become a movie soon. Many of the ideas are BRAND NEW and I loved the adaptability of people in the story line. AWESOME!!”—Phil W. King, Amazon

  “It’s good space opera. I liked the story and wanted to know what happened next. The characters are interesting and culturally diverse. The underlying theme is that humans are part of nature and nature is red of tooth and claw. Therefore, humans are naturally violent, which fortunately makes them a match for the predators from space.”—Frank C. Hemingway, Amazon

  STAR VIGILANTE

  “For a fast-paced adventure with cool tech, choose Star Vigilante. This is the story of three outsiders. Can three outsiders bond together to save Eliana's planet from eco-destruction at the hands of a ruthless mining enterprise?” –Bonnie Gordon, Los Alamos Daily Post

  STELLAR ASSASSIN

  “T. Jackson King’s Stellar Assassin is an ambitious science fiction epic that sings! Filled with totally alien lifeforms, one lonely human, an archaeologist named Al Lancaster must find his way through trade guilds, political maneuvering and indentured servitude, while trying to reconcile his new career as an assassin with his deeply-held belief in the teachings of Buddha. . . This is a huge, colorful, complicated world with complex characters, outstanding dialogue, believable motivations, wonderful high-tech battle sequences and, on occasion, a real heart-str
inger . . . This is an almost perfectly edited novel as well, which is a bonus. This is a wonderful novel, written by a wonderful author . . .Bravo! Five Stars!” –Linell Jeppsen, Amazon

  LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD

  “If you’re sensing a whiff of Andre Norton or Robert A. Heinlein, you’re not mistaken . . . The influence is certainly there, but Little Brother’s World is no mere imitation of Star Man’s Son or Citizen of the Galaxy. Rather, it takes the sensibility of those sorts of books and makes of it something fresh and new. T. Jackson King is doing his part to further the great conversation of science fiction; it’ll be interesting to see where he goes next.”–Don Sakers, Analog

  “When I’m turning a friend on to a good writer I’ve just discovered, I'll often say something like, “Give him ten pages and you’ll never be able to put him down.” Once in a long while, I'll say, “Give him five pages.” It took T. Jackson King exactly one sentence to set his hook so deep in me that I finished LITTLE BROTHER’S WORLD in a single sitting, and I’ll be thinking about that vivid world for a long time to come. The last writer I can recall with the courage to make a protagonist out of someone as profoundly Different as Little Brother was James Tiptree Jr., with her remarkable debut novel UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD. I think Mr. King has met that challenge even more successfully. His own writing DNA borrows genes from writers as diverse as Tiptree, Heinlein, Norton, Zelazny, Sturgeon, Pohl, and Doctorow, and splices them together very effectively.” –Spider Robinson, Hugo, Nebula and Campbell Award winner

  “Little Brother's World is a sci-fi novel where Genetic Engineering exists. . . It contains enough details and enough thrills to make the book buyers/readers grab it and settle in for an afternoon read. The book is well-written and had a well-defined plot . . . I never found a boring part in the story. It was fast-paced and kept me entertained all throughout. The characters are fascinating and likeable too. This book made me realize about a possible outcome, when finally science and technology wins over traditional ones. . . All in all, Little Brother’s World is another sci-fi novel from T. Jackson King that is both exciting, thrilling and fun. Full of suspense, adventure, romance, secrets, conspiracies, this book would take you in a roller-coaster ride.” –Abby Flores, Bookshelf Confessions

  THE MEMORY SINGER

  “A coming of age story reminiscent of Robert A. Heinlein or Alexei Panshin. Jax [the main character] is a fun character, and her world is compelling. The social patterns of Ship life are fascinating, and the Alish’Tak [the main alien species] are sufficiently alien to make for a fairly complex book. Very enjoyable.”—Don Sakers, Analog Science Fiction

  “Author T. Jackson King brings his polished writing style, his knowledge of science fiction ‘hardware,’ and his believable aliens to his latest novel The Memory Singer. But all this is merely backdrop to the adventures of Jax Cochrane, a smart, rebellious teen who wants more from life than the confines of a generational starship. There are worlds of humans and aliens out there. When headstrong Jax decides that it’s time to discover and explore them, nothing can hold back this defiant teen. You’ll want to accompany this young woman . . in this fine coming-of-age story.”—Jean Kilczer, Amazon

  RETREAD SHOP

  “Engaging alien characters, a likable protagonist, and a vividly realized world make King’s first sf novel a good purchase for sf collections.”–Library Journal

  “A very pleasant tour through the author’s inventive mind, and an above average story as well.”–Science Fiction Chronicle

  “Fun, with lots of outrageously weird aliens.”—Locus

  “The writing is sharp, the plotting tight, and the twists ingenious. It would be worth reading, if only for the beautiful delineations of alien races working with and against one another against the background of an interstellar marketplace. The story carries you . . . with a verve and vigor that bodes well for future stories by this author. Recommended.”–Science Fiction Review

  “For weird aliens, and I do mean weird, choose Retread Shop. The story takes place on a galactic trading base, where hundreds of species try to gain the upper hand for themselves and for their group. Sixteen year-old billy is the sole human on the Retread Shop, stranded when his parents and their shipmates perished. What really makes the ride fun are the aliens Billy teams up with, including two who are plants. It's herbivores vs. carnivores, herd species vs. loners, mammals vs. insects and so on. The wild variety of physical types is only matched by the extensive array of cultures, which makes for a very entertaining read.” –Bonnie Gordon, Los Alamos Daily Post

  “Similar in feel to Roger Zelazny's Alien Speedway series is Retread Shop by T. Jackson King. It's an orphan-human-in-alien-society-makes-good story. Well-written and entertaining, it could be read either as a Young Adult or as straight SF with equal enjoyment.” –Chuq Von Rospach, OtherRealms 22

  “If you liked Stephen Goldin’s Jade Darcy books duo, and Julie Czerneda’s Clan trilogy, then you will probably like Retread Shop since it too has multiple aliens, an eatery, and an infinity of odd events that range from riots, to conspiracy, to exploring new worlds and to alien eating habits . . . It’s a fun reader's ride and thoroughly entertaining. And, sigh, I wish that the author would write more books set in this background.” –Lyn McConchie, co-author of the Beastmaster series

  HUMANS VS. ALIENS

  “Another great book from this author. This series has great characters and story is wall to wall excitement. Look forward to next book.”—William R. Thomas, Amazon

  “Humans are once again aggressive and blood thirsty to defend the Earth. Pace is quick and action is plentiful. Some unexpected plot twists, but you always know the home team is the best.”—C. Cook, Amazon

  ANCESTOR’S WORLD

  “T. Jackson King is a professional archaeologist and he uses that to great advantage in Ancestor’s World. I was just as fascinated by the details of the archaeology procedures as I was by the unfolding of the plot . . . What follows is a tightly plotted, suspenseful novel.”–Absolute Magnitude

  “The latest in the StarBridge series from King, a former Rogue Valley resident now living and writing in Arizona, follows the action on planet Na-Dina, where the tombs of 46 dynasties have lain undisturbed for 6,000 years until a human archaeologist and a galactic gumshoe show up. Set your phasers for fun.”–Medford Mail Tribune

  ALIEN ASSASSIN

  “The Assassin series is required reading in adventure, excitement and daring. The galactic vistas, the advanced alien technologies and the action make all the Assassin books a guarantee of a good read. Please keep them coming!”—C. B. Symons, Amazon

  “KING STRIKES AGAIN! Yes, T. Jackson King gives us yet again a great space adventure. I loved the drama and adventure in this book. There is treachery in this one too which heightens the suspense. Being the only human isn’t easy, but Al pulls it off. Loved the Dino babies and how they are being developed into an important part of the family of assassins. All of the fun takes place right here and we are not left hanging off the cliff. Write on T.J.”—K. McClell, Amazon

  THE GAEAN ENCHANTMENT

  “For magic, a quest and a new battle around every corner, go with The Gaean Enchantment. In this novel, Earth has entered a new phase as it cycles through the universe. In this phase, some kinds of “magic” work, but tech is rapidly ceasing to function. In the world of this book, incantation and sympathetic magic function through connection to spirit figures who might be described as gods.” –Bonnie Gordon, Los Alamos Daily Post

  “In The Gaean Enchantment the main character, Thomas, back from Vietnam and with all the PTSD that many soldiers have—nightmares, blackouts—finds his truth through the finding of his totem animal, the buffalo Black Mane. He teaches Thomas that violence and killing must always be done as a last resort, and that the energies of his soul are more powerful than any arsenal . . . Don’t miss this amazing novel of magic and soul transformation, deep love, and Artemis, goddess of the hunt and protector of women.”–Catherine H
erbison-Wiget, Amazon

  JUDGMENT DAY AND OTHER DREAMS

  “King is a prolific writer with an old-time approach–he tells straight-ahead stories and asks the big questions. No topic is off limits and he writes with an explorer’s zest for uncovering the unknown. He takes readers right into the world of each story, so each rustle of a tree, each whisper of the wind, blows softly against your inner ear.”–Scott Turick, Daytona Beach News-Journal

  “Congratulations on the long overdue story collection, Tom! What I find most terrific is your range of topics and styles. You have always been an explorer.”–David Brin, Nebula and Hugo winner

  “I’m thoroughly loving [the stories]; the prose is the kind that makes me stop and savor it – roll phrases over my tongue – delicious. I loved the way you conjure up a whole world or civilization so economically.”–Sheila Finch, SF author

  “Judgment Day and Other Dreams . . . would make a valued addition to any science fiction or fantasy library. There is a satisfying and engrossing attention to detail within the varied stories . . . The common thread among all works is the intimate human element at the heart of each piece. King's prose displays a mastery over these myriad subjects without alienating the uninitiated, thus providing the reader with a smooth, coherent, and altogether enjoyable experience . . . King is able to initiate the reader naturally through plot and precise prose, as if being eased into a warm bath . . . There is a dedicated unity amongst some of the entries in this anthology that begs to be explored in longer formats. And the works which stand apart are just as notable and exemplify King's grasp of human emotions and interactions. This collection displays the qualities of fine writing backed by a knowledgeable hand and a vivid imagination . . . If Judgment Day and Other Dreams is anything to go by, T. Jackson King should be a household name.” –John Sulyok, Tangent Online