Kellen (Heroes of the League Book 15)

by Frank Carey

"Thank you, sir!" the waiter said as he hurried off.

  "What was that all about?"

  "You and I are to attend a state dinner two weeks from now. It seems Tannith thinks I need to get out more and Lucien agrees."

  "Lucien? Are you now on first name terms with the Ventosian ambassador? Well, I'm going to need a new dress."

  "Do you think they make tuxedos with wing holes?"

  "Good question..." His comm beeped. Looking at it, he started to choke.

  "Kel, what's wrong?"

  "Nothing," he said as he showed her the text message from the university chancellor. "I've just been kicked up two grades. Look at the salary."

  She squinted, then whistled. "Make that two dresses."

  Kel sat back and stared at the ceiling. "Sheila, during all the craziness after our return from Arctillus, Tannith pulled me aside to discuss my future with the university. She and the head of the History Department had an idea and wanted me to think on it."

  "What kind of idea?"

  "Like Zor said, universities are lining up to explore the LMC. Ventos Prime University wants me to spend my first six months pulling an expedition together. My job would be to find leads to explore."

  "Treasure! You're talking about finding treasure, aren't you?"

  "Possibly..."

  "Count me in! I can get us a ship. I know people. I have contacts! I..."

  Kel leaned over and kissed her. "I love you, you know."

  "And I love you," she said as another round of drinks arrived.

  ###

  Sage walked out of the shuttle flanked by Charlie and Quint. He looked around and saw he was inside some kind of reception area. "Where the hell am I?" he asked. "I am a citizen of Sokuhl and demand to speak to the Sokuhl ambassador!"

  Quint rolled her eyes. "Walk!" she commanded while her husband, Charlie, poked the agent in the back.

  Sage wisely complied and ended up facing a tall male elf in a business suit, his tail slowly swishing side-to-side. Standing next to him was a female elf with piercing eyes. "Welcome to Dusk, Agent Sage. Charlie, unshackle him, please."

  "With pleasure, sir," Charlie replied as he unchained the agent."

  "You two can go, and thanks for the help," the elf woman said.

  "Ma'am," Quint said as she and Charlie returned to the shuttle.

  "Who the hell are you, and where am I?"

  "My name is Alex," the male elf said, "and I'm the Governor of Alyson."

  "And my name is Bryntana," the woman said, "and I'm Lieutenant Governor of Alyson."

  "And you are in the reception area of the asteroid mine called Dusk. Here we mine and pre-process nisium ore."

  "What is nisium? I've never heard of it?"

  "A substance which contains pound-for-pound ten times more energy than the League’s best rocket fuel. It is unique to this part of space," Alex explained.

  "And you're going to help mine it," Bryn added.

  "I'm not a miner," Sage reminded them.

  "You are now." Alex said.

  Bryn tapped her earpiece. "Tayla? Could you and Vasili come up here? Great."

  "Tayla?"

  "Tayla Hardy, your tool pusher--the person in charge of this operation. She's a Sokuhl and she is very pregnant."

  Sage swallowed hard. "Pregnant?"

  "Very pregnant. She's also Kel Hardy's cousin, if you catch my drift. What else should you know?" Alex asked.

  "Kylie," Bryn said

  Alex snapped his fingers. "Kylie. Remember Kel's muse; the being called Clio? She's Tayla's sister-in-law."

  The blood drained from Sage's face. "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

  "Nope," Tayla said as she walked up to the group with a Storen in tow. "Though you may wish you had."

  "Tayla Hardy, meet Sage."

  Tayla reached over, took Sage's hand, and shook it. "Strong grip. Ever handle a pick axe?"

  Sage shook his head as he stared at Tayla.

  "You'll learn." She pointed to the Storen. "This is Vasily Crumb, my number two. He's a Storen and he's married to Felicity Zarn, Alex's administrative assistant."

  "Who's very much in love with him and very much a Katalan, if you catch my drift," Bryn said.

  "Hi!" Vasily said as he shook the ex-agent's hand. "Soft hands. We can fix that."

  "What is going on?" Sage pleaded.

  Vasily dragged a chair over for Tayla to sit on. "Thanks, Vasili. OK, Sage, Alyson is all about redemption, so you get to make up for your past indiscretions."

  "What indiscretions?"

  "Attempted murder, extortion, destruction of records, unsanctioned declaration of war against a sovereign state, misappropriation of not one, but two SIS warships, dereliction of duty, and mayhem," Tayla read off a datapad. "Though you did pay your taxes."

  "We are giving you another chance," Alex explained. "You will learn a trade, make money, and hopefully redeem yourself. The choice is yours."

  "What is the alternative?" Sage asked.

  "You are returned to Arctillus where you will stand trial for participating in an armed invasion of their sovereign planet. You will be found guilty and executed." Vasily noted. "None of the Arctillian races are very happy with you or your actions. Me? I need a pick-man."

  "So, what do you say?" Tayla asked.

  Sage looked at the young woman. "Count me in."

  "Good, any other questions?"

  "What happened to the two ships and their crews?"

  "The Sun Fall crew was debriefed before returning to Sokuhl for reassignment. They were just following orders," Alex said.

  "Tracker was reassigned to the fledgling Alyson Space Navy," Bryn explained, "along with any of her crew who wanted to stay."

  "What about Captain Nesta?"

  "Admiral Nesta now runs the Alyson Space Navy with the blessings of Zor Hardy. Like I said, we are really into the redemption thing."

  "Come on, buddy," Vasily said while putting his arm around the ex-agent's shoulder. "We've got digging to do."

  Alex and his sister watched the trio walk back to the elevator. "Pay it forward," Alex said.

  "Damn skippy,” Bryn said as they headed for the shuttle and home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Kel looked out the forward window and watched the land pass quickly underneath the shuttle. To the East, the sun slowly rose over the mountaintops as dawn broke over the ravaged land. "I didn't know you could fly a shuttle, my love," he said to Sheila, his pilot for the day.

  "I can pilot ships, swim under water, and hack into computer systems. I just can't cook worth a shit," she replied as she piloted the ship through a canyon.

  "Not to worry," Kel said as a large avian flew between the ship and the canyon wall. "I can do all the cooking. Decades of being a recluse helped me hone my culinary skills."

  "We make a good pair, don't we, Dragon?"

  "Damn skippy."

  The canyon opened up to a plain blown smooth by the detonation of two large nuclear bombs centuries ago. "ETA ten minutes," Sheila announced. "You sure you want to do this personally? We could send a drone."

  "Now that I know what happened to Nest, I feel that it's my responsibility as the last representative of the Winged Basili to lay a wreath and send the dead off with a prayer. Anyway, I am radiation resistant."

  "According to those elf doctors. What if they're wrong?"

  "They're not wrong, so stop worrying. Anyway, I'll be exposed for no more than twenty minutes."

  "And not a minute longer. No bond mate of mine is going to glow in the damn dark."

  "Yes, mistress. I will obey."

  Kel looked out the starboard window and saw a large machine trundling across the expanse. "What is that, I wonder."

  She glanced over. "Weather station. It's used by Weather Central to monitor systems that pass through this area. It also serves double-duty by monitoring the radiation levels. It is hoped that someday the rad levels will be low enough to allow recolonization."

  "Building cities on the tomb
s of the dead. Did you know that on Earth, the remains of six million humans reside underneath the city of Paris?"

  "Ewe!"

  He smiled. "The dead don't mind; the citizens of Paris keep them company."

  "Do you enjoy watching your bond mate shudder?"

  "I just enjoy watching my bond mate.”

  She was about to say something, but stopped when she saw a readout. "That's odd..."

  "What's odd?"

  "The rad sensor must be out." She thumbed the microphone switch. "Shuttle Whimsy requesting rad report for forbidden zone, over..."

  "This is Weather Central, we have received your request. One moment... Shuttle Whimsy, are you near a station?"

  "Affirmative, Weather Central. Station ID 078932, over" she said as she circled the station.

  "Whimsy, you're not going to believe this, but the rad level is Sokuhl background normal, over."

  "Excuse me?"

  "We repeat, rad level is Sokuhl background normal. We've queried two other stations in the area and they confirm. Whimsy, you are now dead center in a physical impossibility, over."

  "Copy that, Weather Central. Whimsy over and out."

  "Did I hear right? The Rad levels have dropped to normal background. I read someplace that that was impossible."

  "I think we need to get out of here until somebody figures this shit out." She thumbed the mic switch, but suddenly stopped. "Kel!"

  "What's wrong?"

  She pointed out the window. Ahead, an immense, silvery dome sat where moments before only blasted plane had existed.

  "That's new," Kel said.

  She looked at him. "Is that all you can say?"

  He looked out at the dome again. "Cool!"

  "I'm getting the flock out of here," she said as she pushed the stick to starboard. Nothing happened.

  "Not to be a side-seat driver, but aren't we supposed to be going thataway?" Kel asked while pointing to his right.

  "Laugh it up, Dragon Boy. Computer, light-up the EPIRBS. Emergency override Minty-one-one one."

  "Working... Emergency position indicating radio beacons inoperative. System compromised. Touchdown in thirty seconds."

  "Strap-in, lug. Momma isn't driving the bus anymore."

  "I love it when you talk tough," Kel said while cinching-up his seat belt.

  ###

  "Report!" Zor Hardy demanded as he stepped into the control room. Below him, the Sokuhl home world carried on its day-to-day activities.

  "Sir! First, radiation levels in the forbidden zone have dropped to normal background, then a force dome appeared at the location of the destroyed power plant," one of the techs said.

  "Right where Nest reportedly was. Dammit. Details on force dome!"

  "Sir, one hundred miles in diameter, fifteen thousand feet MSL at center. Sir, sensor logs show nothing there five minutes ago."

  "Dammit, what else could go wrong today..." Zor looked over at a hand raised across the room. He recognized one of his granddaughters. "Yes, Nel?"

  "Grandfather... I mean, Sir! Kel Hardy and Sheila Minty are landing outside the dome at this moment."

  "What! Get them on the horn, NOW!"

  "Sir!" Nel replied as she went to work. "Sir, I'm unable to establish contact with the Whimsy, Sir! I may be able to get visual through a link with one of the weather stations."

  "Make it so, Lieutenant," the station commander ordered.

  "Aye, sir!"

  An image formed on the main viewer. They watched as the Whimsy landed on an illuminated pad just outside the dome. "Is that a standard landing pad configuration?" Zor asked.

  "Computer, compare pad configuration to standard."

  "Working... Pad configuration is within 0.01% of Sokuhl standard."

  "What the hell is going on?" Zor asked.

  There was a popping noise as someone dressed as Captain Mike appeared in the middle of the control room, their nametag reading "Bob."

  "Somebody call?" Bob asked while looking around the room. All he got back were blank stares. "I was on Alyson when I got a priority message to report to Sokuhl Space Command for a rescue mission."

  Zor looked at the station commander who shook his head. "We didn't contact you, but we could use your help."

  "Cool. What's up?"

  Zor explained. When he finished, Bob glanced at the view screen. "Not a problem. Are you sure this isn't just a clerical error?"

  "Eight thousand square miles of dome is not a clerical error."

  "I had to ask. Be back in a jiffy," Bob said before disappearing.

  "All stations, full scan of the forbidden zone. I want to know if a gnat passes wind down there!" the commander ordered.

  "Aye, sir!" the bridge crew replied in unison.

  "Now, all we can do is wait," Zor said as he clasped his hands behind his back and watched the view screen.

  ###

  "Now what?" Sheila asked as she paced outside the shuttle's port airlock. “I tried to recycle the shuttle's control system, but it's ignoring me."

  "At least it's nice out," Kel observed. "Sunny without a chance of a rad storm for the next several days."

  "Quiet or you'll get a timeout," she warned him.

  "You should listen to her," Bob said as he walked out of the shuttle. "Kel, you really don't want to deal with the scorned woman thing."

  "Bob? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were on Alyson working with the sphere team from Erdexi," Sheila asked.

  "I was on break when I got a request for an emergency extraction. Oddly, no one upstairs had any idea what I was talking about."

  "Upstairs? You mean Space Command is aware of our problem?" Kel asked.

  "They became aware of your problem after they became aware of that," he said while pointing at the dome. "That, and the sudden lack of radiation where you could once cook a steak in less than three seconds flat just by leaving it out in the sun."

  He stopped talking when the dome faded away. Behind it was a magnificent city with towers, which climbed high into the sky. Kel stopped, his breathing paused as he stared at the spaces between the towers. "Kel, what's wrong?" Sheila asked as she checked his pulse.

  "Flying Basili," Bob said. "Hundreds of thousands of them."

  "Millions of them, actually. I think you need your eyes checked, old man."

  Startled, Bob looked down and saw an Olympioid woman watching him. "Hera?" he whispered before changing into his normal form and going down on one knee. "My Queen!"

  "Get up, you crazy fool. You're going to turn my head."

  "Kel, who's Hera?" Sheila whispered. "Kel?" She turned and saw him staring at two Basili--a male and a female--standing in front of him. "Wow," was all she could say. Both of them sported wings and tails like Kel's.

  "Doctor's Hardy and Minty, welcome to Nest," the woman said. "My name is Nana, and this my mate and aide, Rollin."

  "Kel, snap out of it, sweetie," Sheila said as she shook Nana and Rollin's hands. "KEL!"

  "What? Oh, I am so sorry. I thought you were all dead."

  Sheila hung her head in defeat.

  "We would have been if it wasn't for Queen Hera. Her quick thinking saved millions of Nestian Basili from nuclear incineration."

  "How do you know who we are?" Sheila asked as she got her conspiracy theorist on.

  "InterWeb, news feeds, comm chatter, the usual."

  "How long have you been hacking into our systems?" Kel asked.

  "Since just before Sokuhl co-founded the League. Queen Hera saved us by taking us into a pocket universe where time moved slightly faster than it does here. We evolved."

  "So, I'm last year’s model?" Kel asked.

  "No, you are current. We downloaded your scans and they are within a few percent of Basili normal."

  "How is that possible?" My genetics would have originated from the original Basili source code of pre-diaspora times."

  "We don't know. It is a mystery to us," Rollin said.

  "Maybe you had help," Sheila said as
she watched Hera and Bob.

  "Perhaps," Kel said as took Sheila's hand. "Nana, would it be possible for Sheila and I to visit your city and talk with your people? I have so many questions."

  "We were hoping you would do just that, for we have questions for both you and your mate. As we speak, our representatives are contacting Patriarch Hardy to discuss reunification of the Basili and the Sokuhl. Though we have access to all channels of communication, we feel that a living viewpoint would be beneficial."

  "I'd love to join you all," Sheila said, "but I left my wings at the cleaners."

  "Not to worry, my love," Kel said as he gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms. "Welcome to Air Kel."

  "You always could sweep me off my feet, you big, lovable lug."

  "Bob, My Queen, coming with us?" Kel asked.

  "I think we're good," Bob said as she held his true love in his arms.

  Together, the Basili and their Sokuhl passenger took off and headed to the city and their future.

  <<<<>>>>

  About Frank Carey

  Frank Carey has been formally writing and publishing works of science fiction since late 2013. Over the years prior, he had dabbled in various forms of writing including haiku poetry, but that all changed when he and his wife, Jo, decided to try their hand at writing and self-publishing. All his work, to date, has been in the science fiction genre.

  Most of his stories take place about two centuries in the future when Earth joins the League of Planetary Systems. Many of his protagonists are strong females. He is an inveterate pantser who believes the story will go where the story wants to go.

  Frank’s background includes degrees in physics and extensive work as a scientific programmer and technologist.

  Frank and his wife produce a podcast—Xtreme Self-Publishing—which details their self-publishing efforts.

  Frank can be reached through his podcast at xtremeselfpublishing.podbean.com or via e-mail at elvenindustriespress@gmail.com or xsppodcast@gmail.com