“I can agree to that,” Symeon said after a long, silent moment. He didn’t like the idea, but Kavya was right. The alternative looked worse.
The shuttle’s comm rang with an incoming call. Kavya opened the channel, and Gatekeeper’s bald head reappeared in the holo display.
“Do you possess enough provisions and water to survive the next seventy-five hours without resupply?” The alien asked without preamble.
Symeon shrugged. He hadn’t given the ship’s stores much thought beyond asking the onboard micro chef to prepare orders from its enormous menu every few hours. He tended to take that sort of modern convenience for granted.
“We have enough to last up to two weeks,” Kavya said, her tone guarded. “Why do you ask?”
A warning tone rang throughout the shuttle.
“What is that?” Symeon scanned the controls and various holo displays, but with his lack of piloting knowledge, they told him nothing.
“Proximity alarm.” Kavya swiped Gatekeeper’s head to one side of the holo and zoomed in a forward facing view of the gate.
“I don’t see anything.” Symeon leaned over her shoulder, a sudden acid fear in his belly. “Is something coming through the gate?”
“No. Look there.” Kavya zoomed in closer and pointed at a tiny spheroid casting a shadow upon the gate’s outer ring like a sunspot.
Symeon at first mistook it for space debris until he spotted the tail of exhaust gasses spewing from it. Distant starlight glinted off its metallic silver skin and his jaw tightened. This was no bit of stray metal leftover from the gate’s construction.
“Is it a missile?” Czarina asked, her voice flat, but worried.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t fit the usual—” A fresh alarm cut Kavya off mid-sentence, and she cursed through her teeth.
“What now?” Symeon asked.
“More of them.” Kavya zoomed out to pick up five more objects, each a clone of the first, all headed toward the shuttle, all picking up speed.
“Gatekeeper means to destroy us?” Symeon asked. “Why?”
“Let’s worry about that later.” Kavya’s hands flew across the controls, her silvery blue fingers a blur. “I’m turning about and getting us out of here.”
Symeon strapped himself into his seat, though he felt little inertia even from Kavya’s tight maneuvering. The star field swung wildly in the holo display so that the gate fell behind them. Symeon switched the copilot’s view to the rear, hoping he might watch the encroaching projectiles first slow and then dwindle away into the distance, but no. They streaked across the distance, closing the gap far faster than he would have imagined possible.
“Do we have any offensive weapons?” Symeon asked.
“None.” Kavya shook her head. “This bucket wasn’t built with fighting in mind. What about your armor? Any chance it can maneuver in space? Perhaps you can use that shoulder laser on them.”
“No. The armor has no thrusters for zero-g maneuvering. There’s an option for them, but this model doesn’t have them.”
Kavya, her face blanched a whiter shade of blue, leaned forward against her piloting harness. “I’ll try to evade them if I can.”
“Can’t you hail Gatekeeper? Ask him to call off his attack?” Czarina demanded.
“I hear you,” Gatekeeper’s shrunken head spoke from the edge of the ship’s display. “This is not an attack. It is a legal seizure of property.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want our ship?” Symeon shouted, his voice raw with fear.
“I don’t. The property is you. According to the Inter-Connectivity Statutes, clause 819.42, subsection 56.78, by approaching my gate offering your time in trade for gate transit, you retained my person as your agent for barter. Although I am unable to quickly communicate with interested customers, I keep several current employment offers at hand for situations like this. You’re in luck. I believe one or more factions in the Cooper System will happily pay both your transit and my finder’s fees in exchange for your labor.”
“We didn’t agree to anything!” Czarina shouted. “Call off your missiles.”
“You did agree, and the bargain is struck. I’ve dispatched a message to the contract holders on the other side of the gate. They should receive it well before you finish transiting. Expect someone waiting to receive you upon arrival.”
A deep BOOM reverberated through the shuttle before anyone could retort. Symeon jumped in surprise, his throat tight not just with fear, but utter dread. He knew in that moment he would die. When the shuttle neither exploded nor split in two, he found himself looking around at Kavya and Czarina. Their expressions mirrored his shocked relief.
“What happened?” Czarina asked.
A second BOOM rang the ship like a hammer striking a bell, and the shuttle’s engines died. Kavya scanned the controls, frowning. “Whatever those things are, they’re attaching to the hull. Look.”
She called up an outside view of the ship. Two of the metal objects appeared on screen, their bulbous ends facing back the way they had come. They resembled enormous silver eggs the size of a particularly fat man. Less than ten seconds later, a third egg slammed into the shuttle between and slightly ahead of the first two and stuck fast.
“Why’d our engines go silent?” Symeon asked. “Did the eggs do something?”
“The first two fired lasers on their approach,” Kavya said, nodding. “We’re dead in the void.”
The fourth, fifth, and sixth eggs hit the shuttle in rapid succession, each attaching itself to the shuttle’s bottom side opposite their counterparts. An eerie silence fell after the sound of their arrival drifted into nothingness.
“Gatekeeper,” Kavya said, her voice imperious though the alien’s head had disappeared from the holo-display. “I demand you release us at once. Whatever agreement you think we’ve made, we renounce it forthwith. You are interfering with free citizens of the Phoenix System.”
That last part might not hold up under scrutiny, you three are anything but free inside Phoenix space, but doesn’t she sound commanding? Yudi said inside Symeon’s mind.
Yes, she’s good at summoning the affronted princess when she needs it, thought Symeon. But I get the feeling it’s not going to do us much good.
Without any input from Kavya, a roar echoed through the shuttle’s hull, and the star field spun abruptly to the left until the ship had come about. The sound rose as the shuttle raced ahead toward the gate. Kavya swallowed and switched the view that direction. The swirling colors at the gate’s heart loomed ever larger as they neared: green, orange, violet, and gold shimmered and mixed, forming a panoply of hues so numerous Symeon knew many lay beyond his perception.
Kavya slammed a fist against the holo-display’s plastic deck to no effect, and she sighed.
“It’s what we wanted, right? This is what we came for.” Symeon yearned to place his hand in hers the way he had during their time playacting at Gomarov Castle, but he didn’t, worried she might take it amiss.
Kavya nodded almost imperceptibly. “I thought I’d be able to negotiate. This isn’t what I bargained for.” She twisted to look at him. “I’m sorry.”
The regret in Kavya’s expression overcame Symeon’s reluctance. Gingerly, he took her hand in both his own, fearful she might pull away, yet too overcome to do otherwise. Her skin was warm and supple and, to his everlasting delight, inviting. She smiled and gently squeezed his fingers.
“You forgive me for blundering into this trap?” she asked.
“What’s to forgive?” Symeon shook his head. “We’ve been together all this way, and we’ve made it through. What’s one more step? Whatever we find on the other side of that gate, we’ll face it side by side.”
Kavya’s eyelids fluttered, her cheeks wet. Slowly, she turned back to the holo display where the gate loomed large before them. Its colors sparkled on her tears as the shuttle passed inside the outer threshold and disappeared.
# # # # #
About the Author
David Alan Jones is a veteran of the United States Air Force where he served as an Arabic linguist. A 2016 Writers of the Future silver honorable mention recipient, David’s writing spans the science fiction, military sci-fi, fantasy, and urban fantasy genres. He is a martial artist, a husband, and a father of three. David’s day job involves programming computers for Uncle Sam.
You can find out more about David's writing, including his current projects, at his website: https://www.davidalanjones.net/ .
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The following is an
Excerpt from Book One of the Salvage Title Trilogy:
Salvage Title
___________________
Kevin Steverson
Now Available from Theogony Books
eBook, Paperback, and Audio
Excerpt from “Salvage Title:”
A steady beeping brought Harmon back to the present. Clip’s program had succeeded in unlocking the container. “Right on!” Clip exclaimed. He was always using expressions hundreds or more years out of style. “Let’s see what we have; I hope this one isn’t empty, too.” Last month they’d come across a smaller vault, but it had been empty.
Harmon stepped up and wedged his hands into the small opening the door had made when it disengaged the locks. There wasn’t enough power in the small cells Clip used to open it any further. He put his weight into it, and the door opened enough for them to get inside. Before they went in, Harmon placed a piece of pipe in the doorway so it couldn’t close and lock on them, baking them alive before anyone realized they were missing.
Daylight shone in through the doorway, and they both froze in place; the weapons vault was full. In it were two racks of rifles, stacked on top of each other. One held twenty magnetic kinetic rifles, and the other held some type of laser rifle. There was a rack of pistols of various types. There were three cases of flechette grenades and one of thermite. There were cases of ammunition and power clips for the rifles and pistols, and all the weapons looked to be in good shape, even if they were of a strange design and clearly not made in this system. Harmon couldn’t tell what system they had been made in, but he could tell what they were.
There were three upright containers on one side and three more against the back wall that looked like lockers. Five of the containers were not locked, so Clip opened them. The first three each held two sets of light battle armor that looked like it was designed for a humanoid race with four arms. The helmets looked like the ones Harmon had worn at the academy, but they were a little long in the face. The next container held a heavy battle suit—one that could be sealed against vacuum. It was also designed for a being with four arms. All the armor showed signs of wear, with scuffed helmets. The fifth container held shelves with three sizes of power cells on them. The largest power cells—four of them—were big enough to run a mech.
Harmon tried to force the handle open on the last container, thinking it may have gotten stuck over time, but it was locked and all he did was hurt his hand. The vault seemed like it had been closed for years.
Clip laughed and said, “That won’t work. It’s not age or metal fatigue keeping the door closed. Look at this stuff. It may be old, but it has been sealed in for years. It’s all in great shape.”
“Well, work some of your tech magic then, ‘Puter Boy,” Harmon said, shaking out his hand.
Clip pulled out a small laser pen and went to work on the container. It took another ten minutes, but finally he was through to the locking mechanism. It didn’t take long after that to get it open.
Inside, there were two items—an eight-inch cube on a shelf that looked like a hard drive or a computer and the large power cell it was connected to. Harmon reached for it, but Clip grabbed his arm.
“Don’t! Let me check it before you move it. It’s hooked up to that power cell for a reason. I want to know why.”
Harmon shrugged. “Okay, but I don’t see any lights; it has probably been dead for years.”
Clip took a sensor reader out of his kit, one of the many tools he had improved. He checked the cell and the device. There was a faint amount of power running to it that barely registered on his screen. There were several ports on the back along with the slot where the power cell was hooked in. He checked to make sure the connections were tight, he then carried the two devices to the hovercraft.
Clip then called Rinto’s personal comm from the communicator in the hovercraft. When Rinto answered, Clip looked at Harmon and winked. “Hey boss, we found some stuff worth a hovercraft full of credit…probably two. Can we have it?” he asked.
* * * * *
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The following is an
Excerpt from Book One of the Singularity War:
Warrior: Integration
___________________
David Hallquist
Now Available from Theogony Books
eBook and Paperback
Excerpt from “Warrior: Integration:”
I leap into the pit. As I fall in the low gravity, I run my hands and feet along the rock walls, pushing from one side to another, slowing my descent. I hit the pool below and go under.
I swim up through the greenish chemicals and breach the surface. I can see a human head silhouetted against the circle of light above. Time to go. I slide out of the pool quickly. The pool explodes behind me. Grenade, most likely. The tall geyser of steam and spray collapses as I glide into the darkness of the caves ahead.
They are shooting to kill now.
I glide deeper into the rough tunnels. Light grows dimmer. Soon, I can barely see the rock walls around me. I look back. I can see the light from the tunnel reflected upon the pool. They have not come down yet. They’re cautious; they won’t just rush in. I turn around a bend in the tunnel, and light is lost to absolute darkness.
The darkness means little to me anymore. I can hear them talking as their voices echo off the rock. They are going to send remotes down first. They have also decided to kill me rather than capture me. They figure the docs can study whatever they scrape off the rock walls. That makes my choices simple. I figured I’d have to take out this team anyway.
The remotes are on the way. I can hear the faint whine of micro-turbines. They will be using the sensors on the remotes and their armor, counting on the darkness blinding me. Their sensors against my monster. I wonder which will win.
Everything becomes a kind of gray, blurry haze as my eyes adapt to the deep darkness. I can see the tunnel from sound echoes as I glide down the dark paths. I’m also aware of the remotes spreading out in a search pattern in the tunnel complex.
I’ll never outrun them. I need to hide, but I glow in infra-red. One of the remotes is closing, fast.
I back up against a rock wall, and force the monster to hide me. It’s hard; it wants to fight, but I need to hide first. I feel the numbing cold return as my temperature drops, hiding my heat. I feel the monster come alive, feel it spread through my body and erupt out of my skin. Fibers spread over my skin, covering me completely in fibrous camouflage. They harden, fusing me to the wall, leaving me unable to move. I can’t see, and I can barely breathe. If the remotes find me here, I’m dead.
The remote screams by. I can’t see through the fibers, but it sounds like an LB-24, basically a silver cigar equipped with a small laser.
I can hear the remote hover nearby. Can it see me? It pauses and then circles the area. Somehow, the fibers hide me. It can’t see me, but it knows something is wrong. It drops on the floor to deposit a sensor package and continues on. Likely it signaled the men upstairs about
an anomaly. They’ll come and check it out.
The instant I move, the camera will see me. So I wait. I listen to the sounds of the drones moving and water running in the caves. These caves are not as lifeless as I thought; a spider crawls across my face. I’m as still as stone.
Soon, the drones have completed their search pattern and dropped sensors all over the place. I can hear them through the rock, so now I have a mental map of the caves stretching out down here. I wait.
They send the recall, and the drones whine past on the way up. They lower ropes and rappel down the shaft. They pause by the pool, scanning the tunnels and blasting sensor pulses of sound, and likely radar and other scans as well. I wait.
They move carefully down the tunnels. I can feel their every movement through the rock, hear their every word. These men know what they are doing: staying in pairs, staying in constant communication, and checking corners carefully. I wait.
One pair comes up next to me. They pause. One of them has bad breath. I can feel the tension; they know something is wrong. They could shoot me any instant. I wait.
“Let’s make sure.” I hear a deep voice and a switch clicks.
Heat and fire fill the tunnel. I can see red light through the fibers. Roaring fire sucks all the air away, and the fibers seal my nose before I inhale flame. The fibers protect me from the liquid flame that covers everything. I can feel the heat slowly begin to burn through.
Salvage Mind (Salvage Race Book 1) Page 26