The SciFi Triple Pack

by Adam Drake

  The SciFi Triple Pack

  by

  Adam Drake

  Copyright © 2018 Adam Drake

  Table of Contents

  Bitch Berserker

  -1-

  -2-

  -3-

  -4-

  -5-

  -6-

  -7-

  -8-

  -9-

  -10-

  -11-

  -12-

  -13-

  -14-

  Escape to the Fringe

  Part One

  Part Two

  Blackout

  -1-

  -2-

  -3-

  -4-

  -5-

  -6-

  -7-

  -8-

  -9-

  -10-

  -11-

  -12-

  -13-

  -14-

  -15-

  -16-

  -17-

  -18-

  -19-

  -20-

  -21-

  -22-

  Bitch Berserker

  Trapped in a savage new reality

  I'm a kind and gentle person.

  Or should I say, I was...

  As an interstellar surveyor, my job is to find and explore new star systems at the very fringes of humankind's reach. There are no conflicts, or even stress – it's simply a career which allows me to quietly drift through the cosmos, enjoying its endless beauty.

  Then I found myself trapped on a world like no other. Dark, bloody and brutal, I had to adapt quickly to this new reality, or me and my crew might never get a chance to escape. My life quickly morphed from one of peace, to one of pure savagery.

  And as I carved a blood-soaked path across this realm of carnage, there was one horrifying fact about myself I needed to come to terms with:

  Learning to kill was easy, but learning not to love it so much... now that's hard.

  NOTE: This is a hyper-violent LitRPG dark fantasy. Not for the squeamish.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Trans-light jump completed. Internal systems now at normal. Time to wake up, Captain.”

  The voice drew me out of my sleep and I opened my eyes. Bright light made me quickly shut them, again. “Do you need to have the lights on so high? You know it hurts.” From where I lay, I shielded my face with an arm, grumpy as a teenager woken by an alarm.

  “My apologies,” the voice said, sounding genuinely remorseful. “But this helps with your retinal stimulation. It's standard procedure. Especially after such a long jump. Besides, you've done this hundreds of times before.”

  I slowly pried my eyes open. The bright lights nearly blinded me. “Just because it's procedure doesn't mean I have to like it.”

  With an effort, I sat up in the sleeping pod and carefully squinted at my surroundings.

  The hibernation chamber was compact with the pod at its center. I was the only one present. A wide circular door sat closed to one side. Something about the door being closed bothered me, but my sleep addled brain refused to share why.

  After a few seconds of me yawning and stretching, the voice said, “What is my name?” It emanated from nowhere, yet everywhere.

  “Your name?” I said, befuddled. “Why would you ask me that of all things?” I looked over to the meal nook and was delighted to see a hot bulb of coffee appear within it.

  “Part of the procedure, Captain. Please answer, if you can.”

  If I can? What did he mean by that? Shrugging on a light robe, I said, “Otto. Your name is Otto. Now, can I have my coffee?” I padded over to the nook and eagerly took the bulb, its bottom heavily weighted to prevent tipping.

  “Very good,” Otto said. “Now, what is your name?”

  “Zyra Hendricks,” I said. This part of the questioning I knew by heart. Before Otto could ask, I quickly added, “Born on Beta-Prime Station over Pluto. Birth date January 18th, 2214. See? I remember.” I breathed in the smell of the coffee before taking a sip and smiled. Lots of cream and sugar. Just the way I liked it.

  “Good,” Otto said. “What is your designation?”

  “Captain,” I said after another savory sip. “You already called me by that when you woke me, so no surprise there.” I knew Otto hadn't made a mistake with this. As the ship's artificial intelligence, he rarely made mistakes. It was all part of his little wake up test.

  “Of course,” Otto said. “What was are last system of departure?”

  As I drank the delicious coffee my eyes went to the door again. “Why's the door closed?” Then I noticed the blue light above it. “Is it sealed?”

  “I will get to that in a moment,” Otto said.

  Before he could say more I cut him off. “No, please get to it now, Otto.” I didn't think I snapped at him. I hadn't drunk enough coffee for that.

  After a noticeable pause, the AI said, “The Trans-light effects on the outer hull is taking more time to dissipate. The seal is simply a precaution. No need to be alarmed. It's part of the-.”

  “Standard procedures,” I finished for him and downed the last of the coffee. I placed the cup into the meal nook and ordered a second. “Durana 138.”

  “Beg pardon?” Otto said.

  I arched a brow at the ceiling. “Don't get cute with me. That was our system of departure. Durana 138. Proxima Station... 4?”

  “Very good. And where are you now?”

  “Somewhere in the deepest parts of space, I'd assume,” I said, snatching up the new coffee and taking a deep sip.

  “Very funny.”

  “Well, I'm not wrong, am I?” I said, as I ordered a breakfast. My stomach was rumbling.

  “No, you are correct. But where are you sitting now?”

  I frowned when a breakfast tray didn't appear immediately. When I tried to order it again the nook emitted a chastising buzz. “Hey, what's the deal? Don't tell me these are down.”

  “The meal nook is functioning properly,” Otto said, his voice neutral. “But until the full effects of the Trans-light jump are gone, it's best to stick with liquid intakes, only.”

  “But I'm hungry now,” I moaned, resting my head against the meal nook.

  Otto ignored my plight. “Please answer the question, Captain.”

  I pondered how long I could tease him, but knew how futile that would be. With a sigh, I said, “I'm in a hibernation chamber in the belly of a spaceship.”

  “Which ship?”

  “Corena IV. Interstellar Class B,” I said, a little annoyed. Maybe the coffee was getting to me.

  “Perfect. Thank you, Captain.”

  “How are the rest of the crew?” I said, walking over to a closet with my uniform hanging inside. I fingered the fabric and, not for the first time, marveled at its texture.

  “All are well. First shift is recovering from the Trans-light sleep while Second shift are still in hibernation.”

  Did they get breakfast? I wanted to ask, as I pulled on the uniform. I never liked its colors of blue on white. But those were corporation colors, so one couldn't argue. “And the engines?”

  “Cooling down within normal parameters. No spikes. Radial plates expelling heat at optimal limit.”

  “Good. Wouldn't want us to implode as soon as we arrived,” I said, smoothing on my uniform. These things never wrinkled and I liked the feel of the fabric on my skin.

  “About that.”

  I sighed, and arched a brow at the ceiling. “We were transiting to some numbered system, right? Don't expect me to remember it. My memory is quite patchy when I haven't eaten breakfast.”

  “YH 1265 is the system's designation.”

  I regarded the blue light over the door. “84 days of jump time, right?”

  “Yes. 84 days, 16 hou
rs and 32 minutes.”

  I was expecting a little more, and when the AI offered nothing, I grew concerned. “Otto. What aren't you telling me?”

  “We've been in system for 6 days and 4 hours.”

  Whoa. “Really? Why? The aftereffects?”

  “Correct. After such a long jump it wasn't safe to wake you and the crew until now.”

  “Wow,” I said. “That's some kind of record, isn't it?” Normally, I could check for myself on a screen, but the chambers were purposely devoid of any. All a part of the corporation's protocols to soften the shock of the crew emerging from hibernation. Humankind was never meant to sleep for such long periods of time. I tried not to dwell on how much time I'd spent tucked away in a sleeping pod over the years.

  “It is extreme, yes,” Otto said. “But not overly dangerous. The corporation wouldn't have assigned us to this system, otherwise.”

  Spoken like a true corporation-owned, and corporation-progammed, AI. I rapped my knuckles on the door. “So, how long are you going to make me stay in here? We have a new system to survey.” A tingle of excitement blossomed in my stomach. A new survey was the best part of the job.

  The door irised open in answer.

  “The ship's interior is stable,” Otto said. “Please proceed. And I apologize for the delay.”

  “No need to,” I said, stepping into the hallway beyond and noted the three doors of the other chambers were closed. Second shift still sleeping. One level below, the others of first shift would be waking.

  I snatched a view tablet from the wall and checked on the others.

  Active Crew:

  Zyra H. - Captain / Lead Surveyor - 1st Shift – Deck 2

  Caddie Y. - Astronavigator - 1st Shift – Bridge

  Pullman K. - Chief Engineer – 1st Shift – Engineering

  Hibernating Crew:

  Abdul M. - 2nd Captain / Surveyor - 2nd Shift – Deck 2

  Morris R. - Astronavigator - 2nd Shift – Deck 2

  Ronald Q. - Engineer - 2nd Shift – Deck 2

  “Oh, hey,” I said, annoyed. “What are Caddie and Pullman doing up before me?”

  “They woke up the same time as you, Captain. Only they got to their stations sooner.”

  “Oh, yeah? Why's that?” I said, crossing over to the yellow ladder at the end of the hall. Not being the first on the bridge irritated me to no end.

  “They didn't pause for coffee.”

  “Ha ha, very funny,” I said, and climbed. Using the elevator would have been quicker, but I found it too cramped for my liking, even if the trip was only several seconds. Besides, using the ladder was technically exercise, or so I kept telling myself.

  Reaching the top, I emerged onto the bridge.

  Only some of the lights were on, giving the small chamber a soothing atmosphere. A tinkling noise rippled through the air, melodic and slow as the ship's systems thought and processed.

  Two of the three station chairs were empty, with Caddie already sitting in hers. She turned as I popped out of the floor.

  “Captain! Good to see you awake and well. How was your sleep?” she said. As she spoke her eyes continually flew over her station panel, tapping at buttons and tickling indicators.

  “Apparently long,” I said, sitting at the middle station. I noticed Caddie's strawberry blonde hair was fixed in a bun. Not wanting to break the corporate dress code, I wrangled my dark ponytail into one, too. “Gimme a sitrep.”

  Caddie's fingers flew. “Engines are cooling fine, so no risk of boiling alive. All systems are online or about to be.”

  I glanced at my station's display. The communications buoy had been deployed only hours after our arrival and sat roughly two thousand kilometers starboard side. It would log all our activity and research over the coming days. Once we finished and jumped to the next designated system, the buoy would wait for the Second Team's arrival in a few months.

  It would be up to Second Team to decide whether the system was worth exploiting or not. Our job was to gather and collate all the information for them. The grunt work.

  “Okay, let's see what we can see,” I said, and activated the main screen.

  The entire wall on one side of the chamber blinked on, revealing a vast star field. Data streams crawled within little side panels. None flashed red, which was a good sign.

  With a poke at my display, the field shifted and a small red star moved into its center. YH 1265.

  “Anything exciting about this one?” I asked. Over the years, you learned that all red dwarfs looked pretty much the same. I was hoping for something a little different this time.

  “Nope,” Caddie said. “Basic C designation. Solar activity stable. Gravity well as expected.”

  I frowned. 84 days of sleep for a run of the mill star? Couldn't say that I was surprised. “Okay, the IS scan spotted only one planet. We got satellites there, yet?”

  Otto was the one who answered. “Yes, Captain. Six were sent three days ago and are arriving as we speak.”

  I frowned. “You timed First Shift for their arrival?”

  “No, Captain. As I indicated, it wasn't safe to wake you before now.”

  I said nothing. Part of me resented being treated like a part within a machine. Otto might of thought having the crew awake before there was actual work to be done as wasteful. Not that his programming would allow him to admit as much.

  Caddie brought me out of my dour thoughts. “Satellite data incoming.”

  The wall screen blinked, replacing the dull red dwarf with a large white ball. A planet.

  I gasped in surprise and heard Caddie do the same.

  The planet was unlike any I'd seen before. Absolutely white and devoid of any recognizable atmosphere. But its surface was most curious of all. Perfectly smooth without a hint of blemish. No craters, no tectonic lines, no mountain ranges. Nothing.

  Caddie and I stared at the screen for several moments, mesmerized.

  “Whoa,” Caddie said, wide-eyed.

  I agreed. This planet was wholly unique, both in my own surveys and my research training at the academy.

  “Satellites are settling into their respective orbits now,” Otto said.

  “Any activity from the surface?” I asked. Although we couldn't see anything didn't mean something wasn't there.

  “None,” he said.

  I blinked out of my reverie. “Otto, scan the database, please. Has the corporation every seen a planet like this?”

  “No, Captain. Nothing like this has been encountered before. Not in the corporation's database, nor the shared collective archive.”

  I stared at the white billiard ball on the screen. How was it possible something like it could even exist? There had to be some kind of surface markings. It would be impossible for it not to. “Anything else in system?” I said, turning to Caddie.

  She tore her gaze from the screen to her station display. “Negative. Nothing else in orbit that we can see.”

  “Nothing? What about asteroids?”

  Caddie shook her head. “Nothing big enough to be seen transiting the star field. It'll take a couple of days to do a more thorough scan, but for now, this planet is the only thing here.”

  I looked back at the strange planet. A barren system containing a bizarre planet. Was this why the corporation sent us here?

  A memory tugged at me and I pulled up the predesignated flight path schedule assigned to the Corena. Scanning it quickly showed something off. Three jumps prior, a corporation trans-light drone arrived in the system we were shore-leaved at. It contained an updated path of systems, drastically altering the one assigned before. I remember noticing the change but thought nothing of it. It wasn't unusual to have a travel change made. In fact, it was common place as competing corporations sought to outmaneuver one another in order to be the first to survey a system.

  Yet now I couldn't help but look at the change as anything more than suspicious. Did the corporation spot this strange system at the last minute and scramble to send us here? Look
ing at the available ship log data told me we were the closest survey ship that could've reached this system, but only after a long jump.

  “Whoa, it's tiny,” Caddie said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

  I glanced at the data. “Two thousand kilometers in diameter. That would barely constitute a moon.” Looking at the other data points revealed the small planet was tidally locked with the red dwarf, and had an orbit of six hundred and twenty two Earth years.

  Caddie glanced over at me with an expression of bewilderment. “What now, Captain?”

  What now, indeed? Regardless of how bizarre the system was, we were there for a reason. “Well, even though we found a one-in-a-million planet doesn't mean anything has changed.” I leaned forward in my seat and grinned. “Let's get down to business.”

  Caddie laughed and shrugged. “Suits me just fine. I'll pull up the data points on the Interstellar Scans from the previous systems and-.”

  “Captain!” Otto said, interrupting. “The planet!”

  We looked at the giant screen.

  Something was happening. The little planet appeared to be changing. No, not changing. Growing.

  Confused for a moment, I said, “Is system radiation messing with the cameras?”

  “Negative,” Otto said.

  I looked again at the planet's information, and knew it wasn't the cameras playing tricks. The planet was expanding. It was at four thousand kilometers in diameter, and increasing with every second.

  Boggled, I watched as the planet continued to grow.

  “What in the hell is going on?” I said, awed.

  “Unknown,” Otto said. “But there never has been any planet or celestial object ever recorded displaying such activity.”

  A growing planet? Planets didn't grow.

  Alarmed, I pinged Pullman who answered immediately. His grizzled expression appearing on a side screen.

  “Is it meal time, yet?” The engineer said. “Cause I didn't get any breakfast.”

  “How long before the trans-light drive is ready to jump?”

  Caddie's mouth dropped open at the question, but I ignored her.

  Pullman's calm expression morphed into concern. “Uh, five and a half days. Standard wait time. Why?”

  I glanced at the planet's data, again. Seven thousand kilometers in diameter and still expanding. “What's the quickest we can get that time down to?” Like, now would be a good time.