Echo Rift

by G. S. Jennsen

  Alex was still trying to catch up on recent events, but now that everyone was safe, she absolutely loved the idea of Richard and her father mending their relationship during a crazy sprint to find and disarm an antimatter bomb buried in the heart of HQ’s power core. She also assumed the story had been embellished a great deal in the short time since its resolution, of course, as was true of all her father’s best stories.

  She sat down beside Caleb, squeezed his hand beneath the table and allowed herself to relax. A big victory over the Rasu, renewed peace with the Anadens, riddance of the troublesome Savrakaths…it felt like they finally had a chance to catch their breaths. But first a hush of peace, as Emily Brontë had once so eloquently written.

  She filled her salad plate from the communal bowl of spring greens, tomatoes, carrots and shredded cheese. “Is it true? Corradeo Praesidis is going to serve in the Senate now as the Anaden representative?”

  Miriam looked almost mirthful. “He has officially requested permission to do so, yes.”

  “You don’t think he’ll end up bristling against the same restrictions Ferdinand did? He’s not exactly used to sharing power.”

  “He’s not, but he’s also a far more principled and pragmatic man than Ferdinand ever dreamed of being. I’m optimistic that he’ll take Concord as he finds it and adjust. Perhaps he can even help us change it for the better.”

  Caleb nodded over his fork. “I think he will.”

  Alex leaned closer to murmur in his ear. “Did you happen to see him while I was gone?”

  “No. There will be time later.”

  “Okay.” Today was a good day, and there was no reason to push Caleb out of his comfort zone right now. “And Malcolm’s back in the fleet admiral’s chair? I can’t imagine Bastian is taking it well.”

  Miriam’s smile veered toward a rare smirk. “Actually, Bastian volunteered to resign the position. Yes, it surprised me, too. Despite his willingness to cede the role, however, the Federation government still managed to extract a price for Malcolm’s reinstatement as fleet admiral. It appears the next AEGIS Senator will be from the Federation’s ranks.”

  “Oh? Do we know who it will be?”

  “Rumor has it they’re pressuring Aristide Vranas to leave semi-retirement and return to politics. I don’t know if they’ll be successful, but…” Miriam shrugged “…I would be comfortable with the choice. Even if we didn’t always agree, he’s a good man. We’ll see.”

  And that marked the beginning and end of her interest in politics, so Alex steered the discussion to a more intriguing topic. “Have we snagged one of those Rima Grenades from the Asterions and reverse-engineered it yet? Between those pint-sized terrors and the Rectifier tech, the next time the Rasu reach the surface of a planet we want to protect, the ground war is going to look a lot different.”

  Miriam grabbed a steaming hot roll from the basket at the center of the table. “I believe the Initiative has already sent Special Projects a box of the grenades. It’s impressive how swiftly the Asterions are improving on existing Kat technology. But what I really want to see out of them is a working renewable negative energy weapon. That technology will do more to change the game than anything we’ve done so far in combat engagements.”

  “True.” David and Richard had their heads huddled close together while they shared a chuckle, and Alex watched on in amusement and a touch of jealousy. If the story they were recounting to each other was a good one, she wanted to hear it.

  The door buzzed, and Miriam frowned a little, standing as it opened. Pinchu strode in, then looked over at them in surprise. “Apologies. I did not realize—”

  “Nonsense.” Alex leapt up and went to greet him. “You’re welcome to join us, though I’m not sure you’ll enjoy the food.”

  Pinchu embraced her, but the act felt strangely weak and half-hearted. “Thank you, but I cannot. Commandant, I apologize for interrupting, but I have a matter of some urgency I need to discuss with you.”

  Miriam glanced back at the table. “Whatever it is, you can share it with those here. Everyone has the necessary security clearances.”

  “As you wish. In the aftermath of the Toki’taku battle, one of my commanders discovered that one of our fast-attack frigates never reported in upon returning to Ireltse. We did not record its loss during the encounter itself, so our analysts reviewed the full battle report. It appears…” all four of Pinchu’s eyes blinked, and he shifted his weight onto his tail “…the last communication from the frigate indicated it was being pursued by a large Rasu vessel. We must conclude that either the frigate was destroyed in the encounter or…it’s possible the frigate was boarded by the Rasu and confiscated.”

  Her mother’s expression darkened precipitously, and a gloom descended upon the room like an encroaching shadowy mist from the moors. “I see. You’ve been unable to contact this ship or any of its crew?”

  “Correct. It was staffed with forty-four military personnel. They are all unaccounted for.”

  Miriam began striding across the conference room, her chin tucked and her eyes downcast but her movements energetic. “This is why they retreated from Toki’taku before the battle was decided! They realized they’d snatched a prize far more valuable than a single alien planet.”

  Alex caught her mother’s arm on her next pass around the conference room. “What prize is that?”

  Miriam’s countenance grew darker still. “Us.”

  She’d been too relaxed, and it took Alex a second longer than it should have for the import to sink in.

  Concord. Protocols, member species, military rendezvous points and fleet details, and most of all, the location of Concord planets. Maybe not all of them, but certainly the Khokteh worlds and nearby space stations. Concord HQ?

  Miriam flicked her wrist, and a small aural materialized in front of her. A red alert flashed in the header, and text scrolled urgently beneath it. “It’s almost as if they were waiting for the big reveal. Rasu signatures have been detected approaching Sector 4b of the Large Magellanic Cloud.”

  “They are coming for my people first. I must return to Ireltse at once.” Pinchu’s tail swept in a dramatic arc as he spun around and hurried out the door.

  Chair legs scraped across the floor as everyone stood in a rush. Alex held her ground, demanding her mother’s attention. “Well, fuck, obviously. What does this mean for us?”

  Miriam’s gaze darted to the viewport and the parade of ships docked on the spiraling berths surrounding HQ. As it did, her expression resolved into one of grim determination. “It means now the real war begins.”

  The Story Continues In

  ALL OUR TOMORROWS

  RIVEN WORLDS BOOK FOUR

  (Amaranthe ♦ 17)

  Coming This Summer

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  AUTHOR'S NOTE

  I published my first novel, Starshine, in 2014. In the back of the book I put a short note asking readers to consider leaving a review or talking about the book with their friends. Watching my readers do that and so much more has been the most rewarding and humbling experience in my life.

  So if you loved ECHO RIFT, tell someone. Leave a review, share your thoughts on social media, annoy your coworkers in the break room by talking about your favorite characters. Reviews are the backbone of a book’s success, but there is no single act that will sell a book better than word-of-mouth.

  My part of this deal is to write a book worth talking about—your part of the deal is to do the talking. If you keep doing your bit, I get to write a lot more books for you.

  Of course, I can’t write them overnight. While you’re waiting for the next book, consider supporting other independent authors. Right now there are thousands of writers chasing the same dream you’ve enabled me to achieve. Take a small chance with a few dollars and a few hours of your time. In doing so, you may
be changing an author’s life.

  Lastly, I want to hear from my readers. If you loved the book—or if you didn’t—let me know. The beauty of independent publishing is its simplicity: there’s the writer and the readers. Without any overhead, I can find out what I’m doing right and wrong directly from you, which is invaluable in making the next book better than this one. And the one after that. And the twenty after that.

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  APPENDIX

  The Story So Far

  View a more detailed summary of the events of the Amaranthe novels online at gsjennsen.com/synopsis.

  AURORA RISING

  The history of humanity is the history of conflict. This proved no less true in the 24th century than in ancient times.

  By 2322, humanity inhabited over 100 worlds spread across a third of the galaxy. When a group of colonies rebelled two decades earlier, it set off the First Crux War. Once the dust cleared, three factions emerged: the Earth Alliance, consisting of the unified Earth government and most of the colonies; the Senecan Federation, which had won its independence in the war; and a handful of scattered non-aligned worlds, home to criminal cartels, corporate interests and people who made their living outside the system.

  Alexis Solovy was a space explorer. Her father gave his life in the war against the Federation, leading her to reject the government and military. Estranged from her mother, an Alliance military leader, Alex instead sought the freedom of space and made a fortune chasing the hidden wonders of the stars.

  A chance encounter between Alex and a Federation intelligence agent, Caleb Marano, led them to discover an armada of alien warships emerging from a mysterious portal in the Metis Nebula.

  The Metigens had been watching humanity via the portal for millenia; in an effort to forestall their discovery, they used traitors among civilization’s elite to divert people’s focus. When their plans failed, they invaded in order to protect their secrets.

  The wars that ensued were brutal—first an engineered war between the Alliance and the Federation, then once it was revealed to be built on false pretenses, devasting clashes against the Metigen invaders as they advanced across settled space, destroying every colony in their path and killing tens of millions.

  Alex and Caleb breached the aliens’ portal in an effort to find a way to stop the invaders. There they encountered the Metigen watcher of the Aurora universe, Mnemosyne. Though enigmatic and evasive, the alien revealed the invading ships were driven by AIs and hinted the answer to defeating them lay in the merger of individuals with the powerful but dangerous quantum computers known as Artificials.

  Before leaving, Alex and Caleb discovered a colossal master gateway that generated 51 unique signals, each one leading to a new portal and a new universe. But with humanity facing extinction, they returned home armed with a daring plan to win the war.

  Four Prevos (human-synthetic meldings) were created in a desperate gambit to vanquish the enemy invaders before they reached the heart of civilization; then they were given command of the combined might of the Alliance and Federation militaries. Alex and her Artificial, Valkyrie, led the other Prevos and the military forces against the alien AI warships in climactic battles above Seneca and Romane. The invaders were defeated and ordered to withdraw through their portal, cease their observation of Aurora and not return.

  During the battle, hints of the consciousness of her deceased father manifested in the shared connection between Alex and Valkyrie. Alex reconciled with her mother during the final hours of the war, and following their victory Alex and Caleb married and attempted to resume a normal life.

  But new mysteries waited through the Metis portal. Six months later, Caleb, Alex and Valkyrie traversed it once more, determined to learn the secrets of the portal network and the multiverses it held, leaving humanity behind to struggle with a new world of powerful quantum synthetics, posthumans, and an uneasy peace.

  And in the realm beyond the portal, Mnemosyne watched.

  * * *

  AURORA RENEGADES

  Following the victory over the Metigens, Alex, Caleb and Valkyrie set off to unlock the secrets of the Metigens’ portal network. Discovering worlds of infinite wonder, they made both enemies and friends. A sentient planet, Akeso, that left a lasting mark on Alex and Caleb both. Silica-based beings attempting to grow organic life. A race of cat-like warriors locked in conflict with their brethren.

  Behind them all, the whispered machinations of the Metigen puppet masters pervaded everything. In some universes, the Metigens tested weapons. In some, they set aliens against each other in new forms of combat. In yet more, they harvested food and materials to send through the massive portal at the heart of the maze.

  But Alex and Caleb found yet another layer to the puzzle. In one universe, they discovered a gentle race of underground beings with a strange history. Their species was smuggled out of the universe beyond the master portal by the Metigens. They watched as their homeworld was destroyed by a powerful species known as Anadens; but for the Metigens, they would have perished as well.

  Back home in Aurora, the peace proved difficult to maintain. The heroes of the war—the Prevos who melded their minds with AIs—found themselves targeted by politicians and a restless population desperate for a place to pin their fears. Under the direction of a new, power-hungry Earth Alliance PM, the government moved to cage and shackle them.

  In desperation, the Prevos uploaded the AIs’ consciousnesses into their own minds, fled from their governments’ grasp and disappeared onto independent colonies. Devon published the details of the Prevo link to the exanet, unleashing its capabilities for anyone who wanted to follow in their footsteps.

  Meanwhile, an anti-synthetic terrorist group emerged to oppose them, fueled by the rise of Olivia Montegreu as a Prevo. While the private face of Prevos was the heroes who defeated the Metigens, the public face became the image of Olivia killing a colonial governor and tossing him off of a building in front of the world.

  Unaware of the struggles her fellow Prevos faced, Alex forged her own path forward. Rather than bringing the AI into herself, she pushed out and through Valkyrie, into the walls of the Siyane. Piloting her ship in a way she never dreamed, Alex was able to feel the photonic brilliance of space itself. Over time, however, that bond began to capture more of her spirit and mind.

  On the surface of a destroyed planet, Mesme at last revealed all. The portal network, which the Metigens call the Mosaic, was above all else a refuge for those targeted for eradication by the Anadens. And the Anadens, rulers of the true universe through the master portal, were the genetic template upon which humanity was built. Aurora was nothing more than another experiment of the Metigens, created so they could study the development and nature of their enemy and the enemy of all life.

  Alex and Caleb returned to Aurora to find a galaxy rocked by chaos. After the execution of Olivia Montegreu by Alliance and Prevo forces, Miriam had gone rogue. Under her careful planning, a resistance force, bolstered by help from inside the Senecan and Alliance militaries, moved to remove the despotic Alliance PM.

  As Alex struggled with her growing addiction to an ethereal, elemental realm, she felt herself being pulled away from reality. Away from her husband, her mother, her friends. She watched as those she loved fought, but increasingly found herself losing her own battle.

  When terrorists staged a massive riot on Romane, Dr. Canivon, the mother of the Prevos, was murdered in front of Devon and Alex. Overcome by her own and Valkyrie’s grief, Alex unleashed the explosive power of the ethereal realm to destroy the terrorists’ safehouse. Standing in the rubble of her destruction, Alex made a decision to sever the quantum connection between herself and the Siyane, choosing a tangible, human life. Choosing Caleb
.

  Miriam wrested control of the EA government away from the PM, bringing an end to the Prevo persecution. In the wake of victory, however, a shadowy Anaden hunter emerged from the darkness to attack Alex and Caleb. Caleb was gravely injured when the Anaden’s power, known as diati, leapt into him, healing his wounds and helping him kill the alien.

  Mesme revealed the ominous consequences of the attack. Soon, the Anaden leadership would discover Aurora. When they did, they would destroy it unless humanity could stand against them. Mesme told Miriam and the others to prepare, but knowing the end game was upon them, asked Alex and Caleb to come to Amaranthe. The master universe. The home and dominion of the Anadens.

  * * *

  AURORA RESONANT

  In Aurora, Miriam led the formation of a multi-agency, multi-governmental (GCDA) and military (AEGIS) organization dedicated to meeting the imminent threat of the Anadens.

  In Amaranthe, Alex and Caleb discovered an underground ‘anarch’ resistance movement against the Anaden Directorate. They made contact with an anarch agent, Eren asi-Idoni, and he helped them infiltrate the Anadens’ Machim military command and steal secret information on the Machim fleets. Alex and Caleb were captured, but not before Valkyrie uploaded the information they sought. Eren ‘nulled out’ rather than being captured, for when Anadens died they underwent a regenesis procedure that returned their consciousness to a new body.

  Valkyrie transmitted the data to AEGIS then returned to Amaranthe. When Eren reawakened, he joined Valkyrie and Mesme on the Siyane, and they rescued Alex and Caleb from the prison where they were being tortured for information.

  The Directorate nonetheless learned the full truth about the Metigens/Katasketousya creation of Aurora and ordered a fleet to deliver a powerful weapon known as a Tartarus Trigger to Aurora and annihilate humanity. Forewarned, Miriam led a fleet of warships into Amaranthe to intercept them.