New Sky: Eyes of the Watcher
Page 32
"Cut it," Georges ordered.
Garrett looked back at Georges. "Shouldn't we try and get to them, sir?"
The Blade shot over the still smoldering wreckage of the Katrin then hugged the terrain under Dagger's expert hand.
Georges looked from Sparrow to Kate. The old marine laid a hand on the bag in Kate's arms.
"It would appear we have another mission."
"Then someone better tell me where to go," Dagger sighed. "I sure as tral don't want to spend another night on this rock."
"Aurora Five," Tarun said from the cockpit hatchway.
Everyone turned to look at the Archivist.
"What's in the Aurora system?" Kate asked.
"For some time, Knowl has instructed a select group from the Archives," Tarun began. "At the time, we did not understand the mysterious instructions the Great One gave to but a few of us. But, now it is clear."
"Spill it, Librarian," Georges growled.
"The Mainspring Archives," Tarun stated.
"Bless you," Dagger snorted. "Flyboy, pull up the nav points for Aurora."
"Mainspring?" Kate asked.
"A mainspring is a storehouse," Tarun said in way of explanation.
"Well, that certainly clears everything up," Dagger snorted again.
"A mainspring also drives a device by unwinding," Sparrow clarified. "Energy is released over time..."
Tarun nodded.
"What are we going to do there?" Kate asked.
Tarun shrugged then touched the seed. "We will all find out, it appears, in time."
Kate looked through the windshield. Dagger brought the Blade out of the atmosphere and was heading for a grouping of lights in the distance.
"Uh," Garrett remarked, "Ironclads straight ahead..."
"Then you better get those nav settings laid in," Dagger said with a grim smile.
Garrett's hands flew over the console.
"Get back in your seat, book boy," Dagger warned.
Tarun dove back to his seat.
Merrick popped his head in. "Everything good?"
"Done!" Garrett shouted triumphantly.
Merrick looked from the on-coming ironclads to Kate to Dagger with her hands on the jump controls. He cursed under his breath and dropped into the jump seat next to Georges and behind Kate.
"To Aurora then," Dagger said. She pressed her head back against her headrest and threw the jump lever.
The universe blurred as the Blade sped toward her future.
Kate reached back and found Merrick's hand seeking hers. She ran her other hand over the lump of the seed, nestled in the bag on her lap.
Not my future, Kate thought.
Our future.
Epilogue
The hem of Kate's soft white dress whispered over the tips of grass as it grew heavy with the evening dew. Her heels sank into the soft earth and left the curved impressions of her feet to become part of the ever-changing patterns in the soil. She relished the feeling of the ground between her toes and the moisture tickling her ankles. Kate enjoyed the vibrant feeling of life on Aurora Five. Her heart quickened at the thought of the life force which would soon thrive on this world.
Kate reached the top of the hill and looked around at her friends. They saw her quest through perils beyond imagining. Although none of them could tell what the future held, they stayed at her side. Yes, they helped to stop the Tallinns. But they also accomplished so much more. Kate smiled at each in turn.
Merrick nodded at Kate and drove his shovel into the ground. The scrape of the steel against the stones in the soil was the only sound on the hilltop as he turned over a divot of rich black earth and grass. Merrick passed the shovel to Georges.
Georges paused as if he wanted to say something. After a moment, he simply pressed the shovel into the soft ground and lifted out a heap of dirt. Sparrow, Garrett, Ross and Dagger each took a turn. Merrick ended up with the shovel again. He looked over at Tarun and Tivon and held out the implement to them.
The Archivists stared at the shovel for a long moment before their faces broke into wide grins. Tarun widened the hole. Tivon knelt down to use her bare hands to scoop up the rich soil. She took a moment to smooth out the opening, as if she were making a bed.
Kate knelt beside the Archivist and reached into the leather bag she carried since witnessing Knowl's destruction. She pulled out the cloth-wrapped seed and ever so gently peeled back material until the seed was exposed in her hands. The smooth skin felt warm in Kate's hands and gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight.
Garrett nodded appreciatively. "From small packages..."
"Indeed," Merrick said, his eyes locked on the treasure.
Kate ran her hand softly over the smooth outer shell of the seed. "May your summers be long, your falls be fruitful, your winters peaceful, and your springs burst with promise," Kate said.
Tivon reached out and laid her hands on the seed. "Let your chosen ones be worthy of your truth."
Together, Kate and the Archivist gingerly placed their charge down into its new home.
Taking their lead from Tivon, the others knelt and used their bare hands to gently form a mound of cool earth over the seed.
"Grow strong," Georges said and stood. He looked up at the evening sky and headed down the hill without another word.
Sparrow smiled at each of them and gazed at the freshly turned earth. Finally, she looked down at the dirt which covered the glowing circuits embedded in her hands.
"Awesome." The link sprite grinned and turned to follow Georges.
Merrick moved beside Kate and took her hand in his. "And so the adventure comes to an end."
"Yes," Kate said softly and turned to Merrick. She looked up at him with her luminescent eyes. "But one adventure's end is just the beginning of another."
Dagger snorted. "Then you need to find another ship."
Kate could not help but grin.
Garrett laughed and hooked his arm around Dagger's elbow. "You'd be bored without us."
"Bored but not getting shot at as much," Dagger replied.
"Where's the fun in that?" Garrett teased.
"What's your archive supposed to do now?" Dagger asked Tarun and Tivon.
The Archivists smiled.
"There was the matter of the lost—" Tivon began.
"Right," Dagger interrupted. "What about you, Princess? Any insights on our future."
Kate smiled and squeezed Merrick's hand. "Yes...but I think I'll let the future take care of itself, for now."
"Then I'll take care of you," Merrick said softly.
"Please," Dagger snorted. She rolled her eyes and started down the hill.
Garrett laughed and went with Dagger. "See you back at the Archive," the marine pilot called back.
Merrick and Kate stood with Tarun and Tivon around the mound of fresh soil. Kate's and the Archivist's eyes seemed to glow brighter as the sun sank toward the horizon and slipped behind a bank of clouds.
"What do we call it?" Merrick asked.
"I have a feeling he will tell us," Kate replied.
The four of them turned and walked down the hill. Kate stopped when she heard a low crack. She turned to face the mound where Knowl's seed lay.
A sprout pushed its way out of the mound and two large leaves unfurled to catch the last of the dusky light.
Kate smiled. "Maybe we'll find out sooner than later."
About the Author
Jason Kent is a science fiction author living the dream in Colorado. Growing up on a steady diet of land-mark sci-fi movies, awesome Saturday morning cartoons, and just about every book from the local library, Jason nurtured the passion to write his own brand of science fiction. Engineering school, military intelligence training, and launching billion-dollar national security satellites for the U.S. Air Force helped Jason bring sci-fi technologies to the world today. Jason is a licensed professional engineer and has authored several articles about the space elevator, particularly as it relates to future military space
activities and human expansion into the solar system and beyond.
Jason recently completed his tour of duty with the U.S. Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel. During his years in the Air Force, Jason was blessed to work in jobs spanning diverse mission areas including reconnaissance, systems engineering, space and launch vehicle operations, space system acquisition, and missile defense. Each of his assignments helped to broaden his experience in real-world space technology and business as well as expose him to the joys of government contracting, planning, and acquisition. It is Jason's sincere desire to share his in-depth know-how of the space program and U.S. military with his readers through interesting and entertaining stories. His first book, Far Space, blends near-future technologies with the concept of resurrection to explore humanity's first contact with other intelligent beings. In New Sky, Jason shares the wonder of creation and encourages his readers to follow the passions each of us has been given.
Visit Jason on the web at:
www.FarSpaceRecon.com
or Like his Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/New-Sky/685800718156969
Recommended Reading
Old Man's War by John Scalz
ISBN 0-765-34827-6
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
ISBN 0-345-45768-4
Into the Looking Glass by John Ringo
ISBN 978-1416521051
Semper Mars: Book One of -the Heritage Trilogy by Ian Douglas
ISBN 978-0380788286
A Confederation of Valor by Tanya Huff
ISBN 978-0756403997
A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo
ISBN 978-0671318413
What Should I Do With My Life by Po Bronson
ISBN 978-0-375-75898-0
Dawn's Early Light: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
ISBN 978-0-06-204976-6
More From Jason Kent
God, Country, Corps. Space Corps tenets only work if you survived long enough to follow them.
Ian Langdon was supposed to be the pilot of an orbital patrol craft protecting Allied forces. His chances for a nice, quiet rotation disappeared when the Soosuri decided to attack without warning. Is it too much to ask a simple pilot to save humanity in its darkest hour?
If you liked
New Sky
Eyes of the Watcher
Please leave a review on
Amazon.com
Also available in Paperback
Table of Contents
Prologue
Part 1 – Compression
Chapter 1 – Ironclad
Chapter 2 – Mechs
Chapter 3 – Javin
Chapter 4 – Black Death Delivered
Chapter 5 – Link Sprite
Chapter 6 – Transom Station
Chapter 7 – The Quest
Chapter 8 – Blade Redeemed
Chapter 9 – Solom Mines
Chapter 10 – Sidetracked
Chapter 11 – Dagger's Quest
Chapter 12 – Andrea
Part 2 – Ignition
Chapter 13 – Of Flying Machines
Chapter 14 – Staying the Course
Chapter 15 – Skyrake
Chapter 16 – Fighting the Night
Chapter 17 – Reboot
Chapter 18 – Knowl
Chapter 19 – Decisions
Chapter 20 – New Beginnings
Epilogue
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2014 by Jason Kent
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission, in writing from the publisher.
Proudly Published in the USA
ISBN: 1530489997
Cover Design: Ravven
www.Ravven.com
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1 – Ironclad
Chapter 2 – Mechs
Chapter 3 – Javin
Chapter 4 – Black Death Delivered
Chapter 5 – Link Sprite
Chapter 6 – Transom Station
Chapter 7 – The Quest
Chapter 8 – Blade Redeemed
Chapter 9 – Solom Mines
Chapter 10 – Sidetracked
Chapter 11 – Dagger's Quest
Chapter 12 – Andrea
Chapter 13 – Of Flying Machines
Chapter 14 – Staying the Course
Chapter 15 – Skyrake
Chapter 16 – Fighting the Night
Chapter 17 – Reboot
Chapter 18 – Knowl
Chapter 19 – Decisions
Chapter 20 – New Beginnings
Epilogue