Hunter's Terminus

by Timothy Ellis

  "They don’t say much," said Alana.

  "Maybe they can't," said Agatha.

  "They can," said Roo. "But only when they have something to say."

  "Apparently they don’t now," said BA.

  "Too bad," I said. "Jane."

  The channel opened again.

  "I'm sorry you've chosen death. You may not think you have, but let me prove it to you. I will now destroy one of your ships, in a way which proves I can do so now, and without you being able to detect how. Hunter out."

  "Do the thing, Jane."

  "The other thing?"

  "That thing."

  "Confirmed."

  The cloak stayed up with some well-placed holes in it, but every forward facing gun fired. The cloak stayed up, but the flagship vanished into dust. I gave it a few moments. And a channel opened.

  "Admiral Hunter."

  The sounds coming though in the background were not identifiable, but were presumably Trixone speech. The translator was using a fairly mechanical voice render.

  "I am governor level. You have done what you said you would. I take you at your word, although the new military commander will not. My ships are turning back, and will return in two weeks. Do as you wish with those who will not follow my orders."

  The channel closed. And the civilian fleet was now slowing, and being left behind.

  "George, you can jump back now."

  The white dot which was Scimitar vanished, appearing again on the other side. I did likewise for us, opening a rift in front of us, and we dived through at the plant warship speed. On the other side, Jane stopped us, spun us around, and we resumed our position in the defense grid.

  An hour later, O'Neil's carefully orchestrated firing pattern went off like clockwork, and the remaining eleven plant ships vanished into dust as they jumped in. Every ship had fired only once. And the fighters had fired only to ensure large debris was reduced to tiny debris. Salvage droids launched from all the ships, and began cleaning up the mess.

  With the civilian fleet in retreat, I stood everyone down.

  Seventy Six

  "I'd like to welcome everyone to a new beginning."

  David Tollin had the podium, and was acting as master of ceremonies. Full dress uniforms, suits, and gowns. Earbuds in ears for translating, with pads and tablets carefully concealed on the person. Drink and food waiters circulating, who were actually not butler droids, but real people who'd applied for the jobs.

  The coming together of so many societies was the social event of the century. It made me cringe, but it was necessary. The station, like a ship, needed to be officially launched.

  The ballroom was filled with invitation only people, which included a contingent of AI's, and a large group representing our refugees. So it was by no means an all human affair. There had been some staring when they'd arrived, from people who'd never seen a non-human before, but no-one had seemed to mind. The oddness did of course go both ways. A lot of the non-humans had never seen a human before, and so they stared back.

  The humans themselves represented just about all possible skin pigments, with the exceptions of green, blue, and red. I now fully expected to find some at some point in the future. Thorn said he knew all the human societies out there, but he'd missed one all the same. Maybe there were others.

  Five of the seven known human societies were present, eight if you included Earth's, which I wasn’t. The evacuation of Solidario was still ongoing, but the first temporary city was now nearly full. They had a full contingent here for the ceremony. The sisters of Karn didn’t look particularly comfortable in such a huge crowd, but they were mingling. Syrinx had been talking with her own people, but still didn’t look like she'd found acceptance yet, although they were talking to her. Mages from different societies were eagerly swapping magic lore with new acquaintances.

  Guinevere and her crew were here as well, and while I'd had a long talk with her, I was still in the dark about her and Arthur's people. Were they an eighth human society beyond our arm? Or something else? For now, they were at least allies, and Haven had permanent accommodation set aside for all three ship crews.

  A lone tiger was actually mingling, while the lone roo was leaning against a wall observing. Tanith was keeping him company. His people were on my list of things to be done soon, as they were in Keerah space, and so far, we didn’t know what their situation was. Thorn should have known I thought, but I hadn't seen him to talk to. He was here in the crowd somewhere, but keeping to his own group.

  Politicians of all kinds were doing what politicians always did. Press the flesh and talk a lot, without actually saying anything. Many of them had been coming up to me and introducing themselves and their entourages, and I'd kept the pleasant smile on my face solely through PC options.

  Around me were my parents, friends, and ship captains. The captains, whose ships were still in Solidario, had taken a Lightning through the rift to Redoubt, to get here. As had my parents and the other Explorer captains. John Slice, Eric, Jessie, and their families, with some of their AMS people, were also here.

  The noise level dropped, and people turned to face the podium.

  "This station represents a vision of the future. Disparate societies, coming together to talk with each other in peace, and to trade as equals. The way it achieves this is unique, as you cannot get here by ship, only by foot, or very small vehicle. We are tens of lightyears apart, and yet, only a few steps away from each other. It is our hope this station will join up many more societies in the future, and bring all societies closer together."

  He paused, letting the applause die down, casting a quick glance at me, and I put my game face on.

  "The station is named for the vision, and the man who has this vision. He is the same man we would have leading our government, but so far no-one has come up with an effective argument to him muttering 'over my dead body'."

  Laughter shot around the ballroom. I kept my face impassive, but the team were laughing hard. Aline wasn't laughing, but she was holding onto my arm a little more tightly than I thought was needed. My mum was looking at me with pride on her face, but dad looked troubled.

  "We have a lot of work to do. We are all besieged, but plans are in place for our defense. We each have fleets to meet these threats, and Admiral Hunter has a fleet which has just bloodied the Trixone, able to come to anyone's aid. Some of us need to put governments in place, and others must rebuild what has been lost. We need a structure for each of our governments to have a voice in issues which affect us all, or those which affect some, and thus all. And this is in progress."

  He really did sound like a statesman. He'd run my affairs for two years, my duchy for nearly as long, and done so in such a way I didn’t have to worry about the minutia of governing. Jane of course was a huge help behind the scenes, but this man was the one who held everything together, while I played admiral. It was time he was recognized for his considerable competence.

  Aline nudged me to pay attention.

  "But now, we have somewhere to base such a structure, and where we can come to talk without being constrained by who owns where you are. This station is owned by an individual, and he makes it available for his vision. Many of you are merchants, and will be invited to set up businesses here. You will showcase to all who pass through this station, the diversity of cuisine, products, and services available from all those who contribute here. And while the station will provide accommodation, it will still be walking distance from home for many who will work here."

  He paused, taking a deep breath, again waiting for the applause to die down.

  He was so king material. I just hoped others were seeing what I was, and coming to the same conclusion. I knew I was going to remain admiral until we were no longer under siege, but he gave me hope I'd eventually be able to shuck the responsibility completely.

  I was only twenty, but I'd fought a life time's worth of battles, and surely I deserved my peace when I was done. I'd never wanted to govern. I'd never
wanted to be a leader. And now, for the first time since I'd been promoted beyond Lieutenant Commander, I could see an end to it. For an encore, all I had to do was make peace with three species who hated us. After the Darkness, who'd never communicated with us in any way, this was surely a piece of cake.

  I saw Jane looking at me.

  "I know what you're thinking Jon Hunter," she pinged me. "You can see a way out for the first time. You may as well forget it. Even if they elect David king, he will still propose you for emperor of the overall government, actual empire or not. You cannot escape your destiny."

  "I can bloody well try," I pinged back to her.

  The laughter which followed made me look up, but as no one else did, apparently only I could hear it. Jane was smirking, so maybe she had heard it. Aline nudged me again. I gave David my full attention. He'd seen me look up, and seemed to have waited for me to look back.

  He grinned at me, and swept it around the ballroom.

  "Now is the time, and here is the place."

  His voice was loud, and pitched to be heard without the subtle magnification Janette was doing for him.

  "This is Hunter's Terminus, and from here, the future of this galaxy will be determined!"

  The crowd went wild.

  Jon Hunter will return

  in

  Reaper's Crossroad.

  Hunter Ranks

  Marine, Fleet, Pilots.

  Private, Apprentice Spacer.

  Lance Corporal, Ordinary Spacer.

  Corporal, Spacer.

  Sergeant, Able Spacer.

  Senior Sergeant, Petty Officer.

  Master Sergeant, Chief Petty Officer.

  Sergeant Major, Senior Chief Petty Officer.

  Command Sergeant Major, Master Chief Petty Officer.

  Master Command Sergeant Major.

  Sub-Lieutenant, Ensign, Pilot Officer.

  Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant Junior Grade (JG), Flight Officer.

  Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Flight Lieutenant.

  Major, Lieutenant Commander, Squadron Leader.

  Lieutenant Colonel, Commander, Wing Commander.

  Colonel, Fleet Captain, Group Captain.

  Commodore. (Brevet rank only).

  Brigadier General, Fleet Admiral, Space Commodore.

  Lieutenant General, Rear Admiral, Rear Marshall.

  Major General, Vice Admiral, Vice Marshall.

  General, Admiral, Marshall.

  Admiral of the Fleet.

  Hunter Insignia

  Non-Commissioned:

  Private: one downward sloping v-shaped stripe.

  Lance Corporal: the same, but closed with a curve at the bottom.

  Corporal: two open stripes.

  Sergeant: three open stripes.

  Senior Sergeant: three, with the lower one closed.

  Master Sergeant: three, with two curved underneath.

  Sergeant Major: three, with three.

  Command Sergeant Major: the same, with a star in the middle.

  Master Command Sergeant Major: the same, with two stars in the middle.

  Note: These are not stripes to be worn on the sleeves, but badges to wear on the epaulettes, top of the stripe pointing to the neck.

  Officers:

  Sub-Lieutenant: a thin bar.

  Second Lieutenant: a thick bar.

  Lieutenant: two thick bars.

  Major: two thick bars with a thin bar between them.

  Lieutenant Colonel: the Oak Leaf.

  Colonel: the American 'Bird'.

  Flag Ranks: stars, from one to four, in a row.

  Admiral of the Fleet: five stars in a circle.

  Note: All are in gold colour, and look like metal badges.

  Epaulettes:

  Green for Infantry.

  Grey for Fleet.

  Blue for Pilots.

  Yellow for Admin and Logistics.

  Red for Command.

  HUD Colours

  White – Hunter

  Green – Friendly

  Blue – Civilian/Neutral

  Red – Enemy

  Dull Red – enemy Capital Ship

  Orange – Mercenary

  Brown – Bounty Hunter

  Purple – Contraband

  Grey – Derelict

  Dark Grey – ejected pilot

  Puse – Warrant Outstanding

  Yellow – Missile

  Black - Station

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to –Jeff- for the new BigMother MkIII design, and the cover for this book.

  Also thanks to Egosoft, for their continued support, allowing me to use elements from their X3 games, to make the covers of my books.

  A Message to my Readers

  After two years writing Jane and then Thorn, and a weird prologue book in Crossover, I'm back in Jon Hunter's head now. This is the longest book I've written to date, and every bit as much fun to write as the first Jon books were.

  The Hunter Legacy Universe is now a timeline more than 3000 years long. The Hunter Legacy began it, A.I. Destiny continued things in the Gaia galaxy, and The Spacemage Chronicle explained some of the past, especially where those four mysterious beings came from, who rescued Jon and the team from Outback's sun.

  The Hunter Imperium will continue in parallel to A.I. Destiny, with the continuing adventures of Jon and his team, and his people.

  Lots to come. Stay with me.

  If by any chance you skipped Crossover, I hope you now want to go back to it. It might be weird, but it was important to be weird in preparing Jon for this story.

  If you have enjoyed this book, I hope you will take the time to leave a review on the Amazon site. All reviews are greatly appreciated, as they help assist purchasing decisions by other readers.

  Sales and reviews help me to focus on my next challenge. In the time frame of this series, being both two years in book time, and two years of real time, I've changed into a full time writer. As such, sales pay my bills, and my ability to continue writing is dependent on sales of this series, and what comes after.

  As well as individual book reviews, I hope you will visit the Amazon series page, and leave a series review. The series page can be accessed from any book page.

  I thank you for your support, and hope you will continue to read the next book in this series.

  Please join me on the series Facebook Page:

  https://www.facebook.com/TheHunterLegacy

  You are welcome to discuss the series on the Facebook Group:

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheHunterLegacyUniverse/

  If you would like to be kept informed of new eBooks, updates and information from The Hunter Legacy universe, join the mailing list at http://eepurl.com/bqMgVz

  Thank you.

  Timothy Ellis

  Also by Timothy Ellis

  These Kindle eBooks can be found on

  Timothy Ellis’ Kindle Author page.

  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00HRTTIJG

  Follow me on Bookbub, at

  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/timothy-ellis.

  Follow me on Goodreads, at

  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8020436.Timothy_Ellis.

  The Hunter Legacy Timeline

  Approx. 3100 years before Hero to the End

  Yesterday's Spacemage (chapter one)

  Tomorrow's Spacemage

  646 years before Hero to the End

  The Long Road to Gaia

  102 years before Hero to the End

  One Last Battle (a short story)

  82 years before Hero to the End

  Yesterday's Spacemage

  Today's Spacemage

  Tomorrow's Spacemage

  2 Years before Hero to the End

  Hero at Large

  Hunted Hero Hunting

  Send in the Hero

  Make or Break the Hero

  Hail the Hero

  Burnside's Killer

  Hire a Hero

  Jane's Christmas

  He
ro to the Rescue

  Hero at the Gates

  The Long Road to Gaia

  1 Year before Hero to the End

  Home is Where the Hero Is

  Hero in Darkness

  Hero to the End

  Here be a time line shift.

  Immediately after Hero to the End (Gaia galaxy)

  Admiral Jane

  Queen Jane

  Snark's Quest

  Destiny Stone

  Talisman of Tomorrow

  Leader Jane

  Immediately after Hero to the End (Earth galaxy)

  Crossover

  Hunter's Terminus

  Reaper's Crossroad *forthcoming*

  The Hunter Legacy Universe Series in the order written:

  The Hunter Legacy

  A.I. Destiny

  The Spacemage Chronicle

  The Hunter Imperium