by Aaron Hubble
He saw Maltoki, who was leading the way, hurdle a large hole, clearing it and landing on solid ground. He beckoned to Berit, who just cleared the hole as well. Calier was close, and he pressed on, trying to gain just a little more speed, readying his muscles to propel him over the hole.
In that instant the deck to his right erupted and the force knocked him off his feet. He hit the deck hard and slid across the metal bridge. Dazed, his ears ringing, he looked up in time to see the craft swooping down, preparing to go under and through the second great arch.
I almost made it, he thought. His thoughts turned to Berit and Maltoki. He felt he had let them down, but he was confident that Maltoki could take care of Berit. He was just sorry he wouldn’t be able to make the sojourn with them.
A loud report snapped his attention back to the bridge. A massive steel cable, the strain of the leaning bridge too much for it to bear, broke and flew across the night sky like a writhing snake. The cable impacted with the craft, shearing one wing from the body of the ship. The fighter began to spin wildly, bouncing off the arch, taking out more cables and careening toward Calier.
He scrambled to his feet and ran toward the hole which was starting to grow wider as the bridge began to pull away from the distant canyon rim. His foot touched the ragged edge of the decking and with every ounce of strength left in his body he vaulted over the hole and into the waiting arms of Maltoki. The young man pulled him into an embrace, and the two crashed onto the paved roadway and rolled off into the long grass.
The craft bounced against the decking of the bridge, throwing up a shower of sparks as the black mass of twisted metal slid toward the end of the bridge. The three companions scrambled to the side trying to get out of the way of the wayward aircraft.
The craft slid across the gaping hole and struck the rocky edge of the chasm. For a fraction of a second, the aircraft balanced on the edge of the hole and then, ever so slowly, its nose began tipping down, pointing toward the river. In an instant it was gone, tumbling through the black void.
Calier collapsed onto his back, chest heaving from the exertion and emotion of the situation. There would be no entering the city by the ancient bridge any longer. A large chunk of decking had fallen with the aircraft. Once again an expanse separated Gadol City from the wide world beyond, just as it separated Calier, Maltoki, and Berit from the people they had been and the lives they were leaving behind.
The great arch leaned heavily to one side, cables drooping and swaying in the breeze.
Calier felt Maltoki’s hand on his shoulder. “Come on. His friend will be coming this way to see what happened. I, for one, would like to not be here when he arrives.”
Calier looked at Berit, her dark hair trailing behind her in the night breeze. The look of sadness on her face broke Calier’s heart.
Placing her hand upon her heart and then extending her arm toward the city she whispered, “Farewell, my love. I’ll see you again on the shores of Paradise. Wait for me there.”
Without another word she turned and walked into the darkness, the long skirt she wore fluttering about her ankles, her form a dim outline in the pale moonlight.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Epilogue
Admiral McPhall gazed out of the Eden’s forward window. Humanities first faster-than-light warship had brought him and 25,000 Continental Peace Federation troops across the stars and into orbit of the paradise that revolved before him. The blue and green globe of Habitable Planet 397 hung brilliant against the black backdrop of space. The people indigenous to its surface had named it Aereas, but he saw it as the Farpointe Initiative.
Wispy clouds swirled through the atmosphere, but large sections of the vast landmass were visible. It was remarkable how much this distant planet looked like Earth: a blue ocean surrounding one brown-green supercontinent that made up almost all of the habitable land on the planet.
It must be a beautiful day down there, thought the admiral.
Folding his arms, he shook his head at the juxtaposition that this planet had produced. At once the source of Earth’s greatest trial and now its salvation. Humanity would have a second chance on HP-397, and the best of Earth’s population would thrive on this world. The virus that had decimated earth’s population thirty years ago was rearing its ugly head again. Attempts to contain it had been unsuccessful and the propaganda campaign was no more so. People outside the CPF cities were becoming agitated and knew something was happening. Many were joining the resistance.
R3, the resistance, had been a thorn in his side for the last twenty-five years. They had organized after the creation of the CPF “to resist, retake and rebuild what the tyranny of the global government had stolen” as they put it. They seemed to forget that if the scientists and global leaders had not formed the CPF, the human race would have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Another footnote in history that nobody would read. CPF scientists were the ones who engineered the tech that kept the virus at bay for over thirty years now. The resistance didn’t see it that way. They only saw a repressive global government.
Let them fight. It wouldn’t be long now, and those loyal to the CPF would have a new home and a permanent cure for the virus. Then the resistance could have Earth all to themselves. Earth and its virus-infected air would be theirs.
“Sir.”
McPhall turned to see a young yeoman holding a cup of coffee and a reading pad.
“Your coffee, and the latest reports from the planet are loaded on your pad.”
McPhall unclasped his hands from behind his back and took the coffee and pad from the yeoman.
“And when you’re ready, Colonel Shepherd is available with his report from the planet.”
“Thank you, Yeoman. I’ll take the call in my ready room.”
The yeoman nodded, “Very good, sir. I’ll alert the comm officer of your wishes.”
“Dismissed, Yeoman.”
The yeoman saluted, turned sharply on his heel, and walked across the quiet bridge. McPhall moved in the opposite direction, passing several officers manipulating holographic displays and monitoring ship’s operations. He passed through the door into his ready room and sat behind the desk. A holographic display immediately came to life. The comm channel icon blinked slowly, indicating that Shepherd was waiting for him. The general swiped at the icon and waited for Shepherd’s face to appear.
“Admiral.” The colonel’s short salt-and-pepper hair accentuating his sharp features.
“Colonel Shepherd. What’s the planet-side news?”
“As we expected sir. Our intelligence was spot-on. There was no military to resist us, and very few people had anything resembling a weapon. Some hunting weapons, but that was all. All twelve major cities were under our control within two hours of our fighters beginning the assault. Ground forces followed after and began establishing base camps and collecting survivors within the cities.”
“Were our predictions accurate?”
Shepherd looked down, consulting something out of the visibility of the display. “Yes, sir. We estimate that approximately sixty percent of the population was killed in the initial bombardment, and of the people we have collected, roughly forty-eight percent were female. That’s within the acceptable numbers. I’ve ordered that all indigenous people within the cities are to be collected now. The females will be moved to the designated city, and the males will be assigned to labor duties once we re-establish mining and farming operations.”
“Excellent colonel. What of the extraction program? Have the scientific and medical teams been able to get the program started?”
“Our teams have begun setup and await the arrival of their equipment from the Eden, which should arrive early tomorrow. The first females will be entering the program by the end of the week.”
“Very good. Keep me informed, Colonel. I will be making a trip down very soon. McPhall out.”
The image of Shepherd’s face disappeared and was replaced by the main menu. He closed the display and swiveled his chair to look out the win
dow. A vast star field stretched out before him. Light years away another blue-green planet turned slowly. In his mind he pondered if what they were doing was right. He dismissed the thought immediately. Right or wrong was irrelevant in a situation like this. The actions they had taken were necessary and that was all that he, or anyone else for that matter, needed to know. The incoming message indicator glowed once again. Swiping it, he saw the face of the Eden’s captain.
“Yes Captain?”
“Sir, the Valkyrie squadrons are ready for your address.”
McPhall stood, “Thank you, Captain. I will meet you in the hanger.” He closed the comm channel and straightened his uniform. It was time to deliver the company line. Time to tell the troops that what they were doing was necessary and these blood-thirsty demons were really a menace to humanity. Time to spin the facts and make sure what they heard and what they saw would mesh. He took a sip of his coffee and pondered the idea of truth. There were those who said there was truth and it never changed. To him the truth was what you made it out to be, what you needed it to be, determined by your situation.
Right now, the truth was that there was a race of people that was an inconvenient obstacle to the goals outlined in his mission parameters. Inconveniences needed to be eliminated. McPhall stood up straighter, took one more sip from his mug, and smoothed his uniform.
Show time, he thought, as he stepped through the door and into that murky world of CPF engineered truth. The only world that mattered right now.
The Story Continues in:
Sojourners - Farpointe Initiative Book Two
Lucas and Evie - A Farpointe Initiative Origin Story
Harbinger - Farpointe Initiative Book Three
Coming in 2015
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Authors Note
Hey, thanks so much for taking the time to read the first installment of the Farpointe Initiative series. The idea of this novella was to throw you into the world, introduce you to the characters, take you on an exciting ride, and hopefully convince you to pick up the rest of the books in the series.
(Waves hand) These are the books you’re looking for.
As it stands, there will be one novella, three full length novels and two short stories in this series. Sojourners, Harbinger and two origin stories will be unleashed on the world before we bid farewell to 2015.
If you want to make sure you know exactly when the books are published, sign up for my author newsletter and I’ll make sure you are kept in the know. Plus, just because I like you, I’ll send you a couple free stories to tide you over. Just click here: http://www.aaronhubble.com
As for the rest of the series, nothing comes easy on Aereas, and Calier is about to go through some pretty tough times. Shhh, don’t tell him that though.
Well, what did you think?
If you liked it, head back to where you bought it and hammer out a quick review for me. I would also enjoy an email from you letting me know what you thought or what you would like to see in the future.
Live long and prosper my friends.
Aaron’s Other Books
Sojourners - Farpointe Initiative Book Two http://goo.gl/g7WiWU
Lucas and Evie - A Farpointe Initiative Origin Story http://goo.gl/g7WiWU
About the Author
Aaron is a woodworker, turning big pieces of wood into smaller pieces of wood. All other times, he likes to let his mind roam the wide open spaces of the galaxy and write down the stories he sees in his head. Together with his wife Tracie (his first and most important reader) and two daughters, they live in Central Michigan.
Find out more at http://www.aaronhubble.com