by Jay Toney
Lost In Space
Jay Toney
© September 2017
Other Books:
Space Rogue
Alliance Gold
Freedom Flight
Star Bridge
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Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictional. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
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License Notes
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Introduction
Nathaniel Roberts and his fleet of ships made it through the wormhole, most of them anyways. They are without power and children are coming. Persephone believes babies magically appear in the arms of goddesses when it is time. No one, even her mother can convince her otherwise. Can it be true?
The first people the fleet meet are the Drax. Their species looks like a cross between a chameleon and a human. They are inhospitable and greedy. Given a chance, they would cheat anyone to get their gold. The Drax are overdue for a lesson in manners. Are Nathaniel and Persephone the right people to do it?
There is a gathering happening, and Nathaniel's fleet arrives just in time to register for the event. Leery after a recent battle, the fleet stays hidden in deep space doing repairs while Nathaniel and Persephone take their small fighter to the space station. It turns out that the gathering is a three-day slave auction and they are just in time.
Nathaniel believes that slavery is a just way for criminals to pay back society for their crimes. These prisoners are not guilty of any crime. They are victims; captured because they were unarmed and too weak to defend themselves.
The gods are involved in punishing the slave traders. They give Nathaniel the means to end the slave trade, but the decision is up to him.
The fleet has finally found the Alliance and the Crimson tide. It will be the biggest battle yet. Nathaniel is the recipient of bad news. News he wasn't ready to accept. He will never find Earth if he continues to follow the same path. Nathaniel must find another way.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Introduction
Prolog
The Other Side
Decisions
Drax and Double Drax
Taurus
The Hare
The Great Clock
Antares
A Wolf In The Net
Dark Crater
Southern Cross
Little Horse
The Chameleon
The Chameleon's Tail
The Chameleon's Head
The Wrong Path
From The Desk Of The Author
Prolog
Astrea was the last of the Greek gods to abandon humanity. She was also the first goddess to return. She had the largest congregation of followers, consisting of not less than five people that prayed to her. No other god or goddess could claim that many followers. She spent her time watching over Nathaniel Roberts, his friends, and his companions.
Persephone, after an eternity in limbo, was reincarnated as Nathaniel's starships AI. She was unaware of herself or what her true nature was until Astrea revealed that she was a goddess, not just a goddess but Hades wife and Queen of the Dead.
Persephone slowly regained memories of her past and was convinced that she was really the goddess Persephone that she and the ship she was aboard were named after. She did not have any god-like powers, existing as a holographic image.
After defeating the sirens, who were once her companions and protectors, Nathaniel claims two new ships to add to his fleet; a cruise liner and an agriculture ship. Now he has the room to grow his fleet, and a means to feed them.
While visiting Nevis, not a planet, but a miniature Dyson-sphere with its own artificial sun, Nathaniel is abducted. The people, who capture him, mistake him for a runaway droid, wipe his memory clean, and reprogram him to serve Nevis in one of their ore processing facilities. Persephone stays with him, helping him survive until he is reunited with his companions.
After his rescue, Persephone merges with him in an attempt to return his memories. During the process, Nathaniel takes over not only regaining his memories but hers. He even unlocks those memories that were blocked from Persephone.
The Fates placed a new string of life in Nathaniel as part of the restoration. This string merged with Persephone's creating a new string. Pregnant, with his child, Persephone is bound to Nathaniel, complicating his relationship with his wife and companion.
Unable to leave Persephone's side, Nathaniel visits a ghost ship, the Mary Celeste. There are still a few survivors aboard. He needs to rescue them fast. The ship is running out of power and will soon claim the lives of the survivors
Nathaniel and his fleet have reached the Antares System. This was the first star system that his ancestors reached after crossing a wormhole to the Andromeda Galaxy. He has few clues and no idea how to find the Bridge he is searching for.
The Mary Celeste is back, and he follows the ghost ship, hoping it will lead him to the wormhole. Perhaps it is its way of thanking him for rescuing its passengers, or maybe it is just plain luck. The Mary Celeste leads him to a string of navigation buoys that will lead him to the Star Bridge, and the way back to Earth.
The Other Side
“I think I’m going to be sick!” Persephone screamed, followed by the sound of her vomiting.
My cybernetic eye enabled me to see in the dark. Some things were just not made to be seen. The sight of Persephone vomiting was one of them. I told her to take it easy on the pancakes. She used the excuse that she was eating for two now, to justify the amount she ate. Maybe after this, she would listen.
All of the ship's power was out, and we were drifting in space. I was able to see in the dark, so I got out of my seat and went to the engineering station. I gently guided Kim out of my way so I could reach the controls and turn on the emergency lighting.
Red light dimly illuminated the bridge. Persephone should not be here. With power out, her hologram should have switched off. “Persephone, how are you still here?”
“I don’t know. I should have vanished with the power failure. There is no source to project my image from. You must be doing it.”
Her link to me lessened when she got over her morning sickness, a while ago. However, I could still feel something between us. I wasn't sure what it was. She was able to disapparate at will now but hadn't since we left the Temple of Destruction.
“It’s not me. I don't know how.” I couldn't imagine how it would even be possible, but I trusted whatever she said. Hopefully, Jane and Randolph would be able to restore power soon.
"It has to be you. My powers are still limited."
"Nathaniel!" Amber screamed, "My water just broke!"
"Lord of Creation, what else can go wrong?"
"Nathaniel, do not call upon him less you invoke his wrath," P
ersephone warned.
"Nathaniel, my water just broke too," Jewel added to my list of worries."
"See what I mean? Let us hope he is satisfied."
Delivering babies was not on the top of my list of things to learn or do. I was sure that Doc and Miranda would be available to handle it. Even Jane could do it if needed. Someone must be playing a cruel joke on me. The timing couldn't have been any worse.
"Kim, how long before power is restored?"
"It shouldn't be long, but I can't tell until we have power and communications. We will just have to wait."
"It had better not be a long wait, we have babies coming."
"Maybe my mother can help," Persephone offered, then she called upon her.
Demeter appeared. She looked as young or even younger than her daughter. She was wearing a white toga with colorful flowers embroidered around its collar. Her hair was worn down over her shoulders. It was the color of wheat, ready to harvest. Her eyes were a bright blue like her daughter's.
"Persephone, is it time for my granddaughter's birth already?"
"Not yet, but it is time for my friends to bring their children into the world. Our ship has lost its power, we need your help."
"If your ship is without power, how are you here?"
"I do not know, mother."
Demeter looked, not at, but into Persephone to find her secret. "Oh, this is much better than I expected. It is much better than your getting pregnant. I can't wait to tell everyone, especially Hades and your father."
"What is better than my getting pregnant?"
"During one of the times that you merged with Nathaniel you didn't just share your energy, you shared your very essence with Nathaniel, and he shared his with you."
"There was one time when he came to me just before he fought a duel with Captain Rutherford. He was drawn to me and I to him. It was different than any other merging, it was much more. Our bodies were apart, but that which makes us who we are joined becoming one. We shared all that makes us who we are. It was only one time though."
"The sharing of souls is never done. It is forbidden. The two of you are bound to each other for all eternity now. Your souls are intertwined and cannot be separated. Neither of you is complete without the other, nor can the two of you separate from each other. To make such a commitment the two of you must deeply love each other.
"Mother, we are friends, but that is as far as our relationship goes."
"Tell me, in all of the centuries that you were with Hades, how often did you share your essence with him?"
"Never."
"I thought so. You may not love Nathaniel now but you are bound to him, and he to you. You two will come to love each other in time. There is no longer any choice with whom you two choose as mates. The two of you share a bond that is much stronger than any marriage. You are soul mates."
"What exactly does that mean and why is it forbidden?"
"When the two of you joined your essence together your souls became one. The two of you are now inseparable. You both share the same soul. I can only think of two other gods who have made such a commitment, Lyssa, and Maniae, they are both insane."
"We didn't mean to. It was an accident that happened in a moment of passion. If I had been whole, it wouldn't have happened."
"If you had been whole it would still have happened. The merging of souls does not happen by chance but by design. The two of you may be a first to survive the experience without losing your minds. That is why it is forbidden. The very essence that makes the two of you who you are must be nearly identical."
"What about Amber and Jewel? They are my friends too. I do not wish to hurt them."
Demeter looked deeply into Amber's and Jewel's soul before answering. "Like you, they have bonded with each other and Nathaniel sharing a small part of themselves. It is nowhere near as strong of a bond as yours and can easily be separated if that is what they want. I would love to hear how you are going to explain your relationship to both of them."
"For now, it will have to remain Nathaniel's and my secret. Whether they are mortal or goddess doesn't matter, what matters is that they are my friends and in need my help. They can't wait for power to be restored. Their babies are coming now."
"Their babies will be born with or without help. Women have been doing it since the beginning of time, don't worry."
"Mother! There is no need to let them suffer."
"Oh, very well."
Demeter vanished, and the power came back on. I summoned Doc and Miranda to the bridge. They arrived just in time for the first screams. I could feel Amber's and Jewel's excitement, their fear, and their pain. Ready or not, the babies were on the way. There was no time to take them to the sick bay and place them into the autodocs. Even if there was, I couldn't do it now. I was too overwhelmed by what they were sharing. They were having our babies here and now.
****
One aspect of Persephone, the portion that functioned as the ship's AI started scanning our surroundings. She put the data on our tactical screen. The Vengeance, the Sequoia, the Falcon and the Griffon were nearby, having followed us. Two of the Crimson Tide destroyers, the Trident, and the Victory, were also here. All of our ships on this side of the wormhole were without power, drifting away from its exit.
"Captain, the wormhole is destabilizing," Persephone warned.
The wormhole had been stable for thousands of years. It suddenly collapsed and vanished, just minutes after we passed through it. There was no going back, at least not through that wormhole. The rest of our fleet remained behind, choosing not to follow us or so I hoped. If they entered the wormhole while it was collapsing, they were lost forever. There was no way of determining where they would emerge from the wormhole.
I was sure that there were other wormholes. Some that could take us back home and others that would take us elsewhere. We were back in the Milky Way Galaxy. We still had to find the Sol System and Earth.
First, we had to restore power to our fleet. Treat any injuries and then plot a course to Earth. That was easier said than done. In all the years that we colonized our galaxy, we only explored a fraction of a percent of it. The Milky Way Galaxy, according to our records, was nearly 120,000 light years across. There were over five hundred billion of stars in this galaxy. It was much smaller than the galaxy we just came from but much too large to explore in our lifetime.
We didn't know where we were or how to find the Sol System. We would have to rely on the information in the ship's journals that we recovered. The first thing we had to do was to build a star map and try to figure out where we were.
The ship's AI continued working on gathering the location of the stars in this area and building a map. As soon as Persephone had enough star systems cataloged, she would begin comparing it to the data she had from the journals and astrogation book we collected.
In the last 4000 years, the galaxy changed. Most solar systems moved further apart, some collided and changed, others didn't exist any longer with their suns dying, exploding, or becoming black holes.
****
Miranda, Kim, and Astrea surrounded Jewel, helping her with her delivery. Astrea blocked Jewel's pain like she did for me when I was being modified on the cyborg world. She also contributed to making Jewel's delivery much easier and faster. Even though Jewel wasn't experiencing, or at least feeling the pain of childbirth, Astrea and I were. It didn't stop Jewel from sharing her pain through our bond.
Doc and Persephone were helping Amber to deliver our children. Persephone blocked Amber's pain and helped to speed her labor. I waited for our babies to be born, feeling both of their pain. Fortunately, there were no screams from them, or I would have joined them.
The goddesses did what they could to ease the labor of childbirth, block the pain, and making it much faster than it would have been naturally. While Amber and Jewel were pain-free, the three of us were not. We felt the pain for them. I had a better understanding and appreciation of what Astrea and Persephone went thro
ugh when they blocked my pain when I was remade as a cyborg.
After what seemed like hours, Persephone held up Amber's babies. Both had red hair and green eyes like their mother. "What are their names?"
Amber and I talked about baby names for the last couple of months. We had a short list. Looking at the babies, I was able to easily name them. "Ruby for the color of her hair and Jade for the color of her eyes."
Moments later Astrea held up two baby boys. Have you got names for your boys yet? Jewel was sure she was having girls and had only decided on names for girls. I wasn't going to ruin their lives by naming them, Crystal and Jasmine. There was no doubt that the twins would be the cause of a lot of trouble while growing up. They had both of our good looks. They would be both devious like me and fighters like their mother. Two names came to mind, "Jett and Slate."
I would hear about my choices later, if need be we could still change their names. We had 30 days before they would become permanent.
Doc and Miranda took Amber and Jewel below to our quarters, where they could rest and let the nanites do their job. I was left on the bridge with Persephone, Astrea, and Nugget. Now that Amber and Jewel had their children, Astrea and Nugget were back to joking about how they got pregnant. I didn't know if what they said was fictional or real. Some of the scenarios seemed to strange to be possible. I simply had no memories of getting them pregnant, so I wasn't sure.
"It is a good thing that I am a goddess. When we have our babies, they just appear beside us when it is their time. We don't need to worry about suffering from pain or going through labor. There isn't any."
Astrea and Nugget laughed, hearing that. Evidently, Persephone was misinformed. She was holding her swollen belly in her hands. It was a good thing she wasn't due for a couple of days. I had enough excitement for today.
"Mother!"
Demeter reappeared. "Something is wrong. I keep cramping, and my back hurts. I shouldn't be feeling any pain."