The Last Stryker (Dark Universe Series Book 1)

by Alex Sheppard

  “Help me, Dakrhaeth,” Ramya screamed. “Get us between the two. Faster.”

  “We are at maximum speed, Mihaal,” Dakrhaeth replied coolly. “I’ll keep it at that. But I must caution that you’re getting closer to them and that is as good as making a death wish.”

  “It’s our only chance,” Ramya said. The only safe zone lay between the two ships. As long as the Stryker was in the middle, they couldn’t shoot at it, since that would mean shooting at each other. Ramya only hoped they wouldn’t catch on her plan too quickly.

  The two Drednots were following the Stryker’s trajectory, blasts of energy lighting up a trail behind them. Ramya didn’t believe they could fall for it, but both ships were slowly starting to turn toward each other. A bit more and then . . . if they wanted to keep firing at the Stryker, they’d have to face each other. And when they realized they were in each other’s line of fire, they’d have to stop. That would be her chance to shoot past them and get into the SLH. She only had a few seconds to make this happen.

  “Help me, Ross,” Ramya yelled. “Keep a straight course to the AP.”

  What if the warships turned quicker and one Drednot got out of the other’s way? What if they turned some special missile loose on them? Nothing was impossible in a battle.

  “Faster. Go faster,” she whispered, pushing the throttle flat against the dashboard. She hastily wiped away the sweat that had trickled down her forehead and into her eyes.

  The shimmery outline of the AP looked like a possibility, if only she could make it past the tail end of the Drednots.

  “They’re turning around now,” Ross said with a quick look backward.

  “We can make it,” Ramya said through gritted teeth. It was starting to look better. And possible. Ramya turned around to check on the Drednots behind them. The one to their left had almost straightened itself.

  “Faster, damn it,” she shouted, pushing down her numb finger on the throttle with her other hand.

  “Good news, Mihaal,” Dakrhaeth spoke suddenly.

  They could all use some good news now. “What is it?” Ramya blurted.

  “Ancillary power has reached optimal level. We can now use a turbo boost on our thrusters.”

  “What the hell are you waiting for?” Ross growled.

  “Mihaal?”

  “Yes, Dakrhaeth! Anything to make us go faster,” Ramya shouted. From the corner of her eye, she saw a bolt of energy streaking toward them.

  They had made it. Almost. If they could dodge that fire.

  “Ross?” Ramya squawked.

  “Got it,” Ross replied, and the Stryker plunged downward. The beam of fiery light passed over them.

  Ramya felt a light rumble around her and the Stryker jolted forward. The turbo mode was engaged. It was now or never. She pushed the throttle flat on the dashboard.

  The AP loomed ahead.

  “Dakrhaeth, switch to Super Luminal mode,” Ramya yelled. “Dakrhaeth, you copy?”

  “Yes, Mihaal, it’s done.”

  Another vivid flash streaked past the Stryker. Ramya gritted her teeth and pushed on the throttle. The Stryker careened through the AP into the SLH.

  They were safe!

  Ramya fell back into her seat, eyes closed, cradling her sore finger. For a while she simply breathed, noisily. They had made it.

  “Mihaal, I set a temporary destination to Kamma so we can shake the Confederacy ships off our tail. But where do you really want to go?” Dakrhaeth interrupted her momentary peace almost immediately.

  Right! They had to go somewhere. She had won against those colossal battleships, but this she had no clue about. She didn’t even know the nearby star systems, let alone where they could go.

  Ross has to know. Ramya shot a questioning look at her co-pilot who sat heaving in his seat, staring blankly ahead.

  “Ross,” Ramya started tentatively. “Where do we go from here?”

  He didn’t look at her, instead scanned the instruments in front of him.

  “Ross?”

  “I’m trying to think,” he said. “We can’t be flying around on our own. Not in this ship. We have to find the Endeavor.”

  Didn’t she know that? The Stryker, with its unusual looks, would draw attention instantly. And even if they had somehow managed to outsmart the Confederacy this time, she knew the next time they wouldn’t be as lucky. The next time the Confederacy would send twenty ships, if not more. The next time, they might not have an asteroid field to take cover. Besides, her father and his GSO minions would be on the lookout as well. No good could come from flying around in the Stryker.

  But where would they find the Endeavor? At last glance, the old ship had seemed battered to her. The hull had taken a beating. Would it even survive a flight through the SLH?

  “Dakrhaeth,” Ross called, “show us the star systems nearest to Totori. And ones with . . . habitable planets.”

  “Of course.”

  The display unit that was set over the control panel lit up with a map showing star clusters, two spots blinking yellow.

  “The blinking spots are stars with habitable planets, Commander Ross. The Tessereth is closest to Totori, with two planets in the habitable zone: Alun-Fae and Gorro. The other one, the Kashiyap, has only one planet that’s habitable. The Morris II. That—”

  “Morris II? Isn’t that a Mwandan sanctuary?”

  “It is said to have a native Mwandan population, yes,” replied Dakrhaeth.

  Ramya listened intently. She knew of Morris II well. Morris Jakumbe was the first human to come into contact with the Mwandans, a sentient species that flourished in the galaxy from before the humans had settled. The Mwandans were considered part of the Confederacy, even though they were reclusive to a fault and never participated in Confederacy matters.

  “That’s where we’ll go,” Ross declared. “Take us to Morris II, Dakrhaeth.”

  Ramya sat up and looked at Ross. “What? I thought Mwandans disliked humans. I thought the Confederacy had a rule against entering Mwandan habitats.”

  “Yes, they do,” Ross replied. “That’s why I think the captain will go there.”

  “You think?”

  Ross sighed. Then he turned slowly to look her in the eye. “I know. It’s the perfect place to hide. It’s also the perfect place to repair the ship without intrusions.”

  Or the perfect place to die. Mwandans could be unfriendly if they chose to, deadly even. Taking the Stryker there was . . .

  “Mihaal?” Dakrhaeth asked. Clearly, he wasn’t taking an order from Ross without making sure Ramya approved it.

  Ramya shot another glance at Ross. He seemed confident, although guessing from his tight jaw, a tad irritated at the questioning. Ross knew Captain Milos much more than she did. If he was sure the captain would take the Endeavor to Morris II, Ramya had to trust his judgment. But it was also likely they’d be attacked by the Mwandans. Either way, she had to choose. And death was a possibility no matter what she chose.

  “Take us to Morris II, Dakrhaeth,” Ramya said.

  “As you wish, Mihaal,” the AI replied. “One hour thirty-six minutes to Morris II.”

  One hour thirty-six minutes!

  Ramya fell back in her seat and closed her eyes. One hour thirty-six minutes. That was all she could be sure about. What would happen after that was anybody’s guess.

  The First Covenant (Book 2, Dark Universe Series)

  Coming in September, 2017

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  An Excerpt from The First Covenant

  Ground cover had a different meaning on Morris II, Ramya realized as soon as the Stryker approached the surface of the planet. The vegetation—wide swaths of plants in all sorts of shapes and sizes—had pitch-black foliage and there was barely a spot or two of the ground not covered by it. The dim light of the star made the entire scenery murky and depressing.

  Dakrhaeth steered the Stryker steadily in the direction of the explosion they had seen earlier and it was near impossible to keep hopes up. Ramya didn’t hope for much anyway. Better to prepare for the worst—the Endeavor had crashed and no one had survived. But even considering that didn’t clear her head. She still couldn’t think beyond finding the crash site and it didn’t help that Ross sat rigid and stony-faced next to her, refusing to speak.

  She wasn’t going to give in to him, Ramya thought irritably. He could fret and fume as much as he wanted. Her eyes were glued on the landscape below, the thudding of her heart growing steadily like a war-drum beating faster and louder as the time of first encounter drew near. As time crawled past they crossed more ground, but there was no sign of a crashed spacecraft.

  “I’m locked on the explosion site, Mihaal.”

  Ramya sucked in some air and braced for the inevitable. The Endeavor would be in pieces and everyone in it—dead.

  She reached for the flight stick. No one could alter the grim truth, but at least being in charge when facing it would give some sense of control even when there was none.

  “I’ll take over Dakrhaeth,” she announced. Grabbing the flight stick, she leaned forward to look outside. A thick plume of smoke rose a short distance away, right from the middle of the dark expanse of the forest. Dakrhaeth had scopes and sensors at his disposal to see more, Ramya figured.

  “What do you see, Dakrhaeth?” she asked, ignoring the throbbing lump that seemed to keep expanding in her throat.

  “It is interesting. I do not see any spacecrafts. A building seems to be on fire.”

  The breath Ramya had been holding made out of her in a slow relaxed wave. There was still hope! Maybe the Endeavor had landed somewhere safely. Maybe its crew was still alive. Regardless, they needed to check out the explosion site and make sure it had nothing to do with the Endeavor.

  Ramya pointed the Stryker’s nose directly to the swirling gray column. As the Stryker drew closer to the plume, she saw the source of the smoke clearly. Dakrhaeth was correct—there was no Endeavor in sight. At the center of the site was a building complex of some sort, built of a dark-brown material. The centermost structure was shaped like an ovoid. An explosion had ripped it in half and smoke billowed out of it. Ramya could see the raging fire and people—Mwandans were humanoids, so they looked just like regular people from afar—ran in and out of the area.

  “Mihaal, they’re looking. I suggest we get out of here.” Dakrhaeth sounded a cautionary note.

  “I agree,” Ramya muttered under her breath as she tugged the flight stick to turn the Stryker around. There was no Endeavor here, so whatever else was going on down there was none of her business.

  “Watch out!” Ross shouted.

  Ramya pressed hard on the throttle, but it was already too late. Something hit the right side of the Stryker in a series of soft plops. It didn’t sound harmful yet the craft tipped sideways and the alarms went blaring.

  Ramya threw her weight on the flight stick and pushed the throttle down. The Stryker turned and pulled forward but not as quickly as Ramya wanted it to. Her vision was blurred and world seemed to recede from her, but Ramya held on. By the time they’d cleared the vicinity of the explosion site Ramya was gasping for air. It had to be the rush of adrenaline, or maybe it was her empty stomach. For the most part though, it was the alarms that seemed to assault her senses with their unending screech. The entire control panel was blinking red, as if everything on the Stryker was falling apart.

  “Dakrhaeth,” Ramya shouted as soon as she had made some distance between them and the building. “What happened? How bad are we hit?”

  The alarms quietened abruptly. The silence that followed told Ramya there could be nothing good to hear.

  -End of Excerpt-

  About the Author

  Alex Sheppard has always wanted to be an author. And even though that dream eluded Alex for a long time, now, finally, the ducks seem to have lined up. This is the first of Alex’s space opera series.

  When not reading books (mostly scifi), tinkering with gadgets and gizmos, and wrangling rambunctious little ones, Alex likes to write.

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