by Nate Johnson
Drake’s Rift,
By
Nate Johnson
Copyright 2017 Nathan Johnson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means. This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Purple Herb Publishing
[email protected]
Dedicated to
Harold Snodgrass
Other books by Nate Johnson
Intrepid (Taurian Empire)
Blackthorn (Taurian Empire)
Discovery (Taurian Empire)
Drake’s Rift (Taurian Empire)
Worth Saving
Nolan Reed
A Demon’s Nightmare
First (Short Story)
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Drake’s Rift
Chapter One
Some things never change, Alicia Miller thought with a small smile as she glanced up at the night sky. The stars seemed brighter here at home. Closer, more personal. More hers.
In Tannerville, she couldn’t get the same sense of being this alone. Too much light, too much noise. A bustling, hustling town. Growing faster than a Jonathon weed.
Here, at Drake’s Rift, her family’s farm, the night was softer. The constant chatter of the red beetles plus the distant call of a poller bat produced a comforting blanket of sound. And the wind of course. The slow warm breeze funneled down their valley. With that unique sense of the planet Intrepid. A combination of green grass and distant rain. It was enough to make a girl’s heart relax for the first time in months.
Yes, it was good to be home. Even if only for a short time.
As she looked out over the valley bathed in the silver moonlight, she thought of the possibilities. What should she do? She’d just graduated college. She really couldn’t put it off much longer. Try for that job in the Foreign Ministry? Or return to this valley?
Mom wanted her back. But, they didn’t need her. Not really. Jake, her older brother, would shepherd things. Henry, her younger brother, would keep the equipment running. Like their grandfather, he was a natural mechanic.
As for little Stephan, who could tell? If the boy lived to adulthood, it would be a miracle. The kid was in constant trouble. But he fit here. Wild, free. Stephan was a part of this land as much as the Yarks and Kairns.
She, on the other hand, didn’t fit. Not really. Home was safe, home was really all she’d ever known. But there was an entire galaxy out there. Dozens of planets to see. Places to go, people to meet.
Sighing, Alicia ran her hand through her long brown hair, placing it behind her ears. Decisions. Stay or go. What was a girl to do?
For quite some time, she continued to stare out at the valley. Lost in thought. She might very well have stayed there all night, but her evening was suddenly interrupted by a brilliant white flash in the night sky.
Alicia’s jaw dropped as she tried to understand what had just happened. The black sky had erupted with a soundless explosion. A brief, brilliant flash that burned the back of her eyes.
For some reason, she felt the source was close. Not a distant star. It took up too much of the sky. Something near.
Her heart raced as she continued to search for anything that would tell her what had just happened.
As she watched, the sky returned to its normal black. No sign that anything had ever disturbed the cosmos except for a new, bright yellow pinprick of light where none had existed before. Then, in the far corner of her vision. A shooting star. Traveling west to east. A bright orange light trailing a long tail of flame.
Her lips curled up into a smile. So beautiful, she thought.
The blackness of the sky was interrupted again by another shooting star. Then another. Strange, she thought as her brow narrowed. What was it? Debris from the explosion? Had a ship exploded, and now the remnants were falling to Intrepid?
The beauty had changed to tragedy. People would have been on that ship.
Suddenly the night sky was filled with dozens and dozens of shooting stars. All of them burning brightly as they descended. The view was unbelievable. A hundred lights streaking across the sky.
Then, without warning, several of the blazing travelers changed direction. Some turning north, others south. The majority continuing on in the direction of Tannerville.
Her heart jumped. How was that possible? She knew enough about orbital mechanics to know that falling debris did not change course like that.
She bent forward at the waist and leaned over the porch railing as if a few inches would give her a better view. As if it was possible to understand what was happening.
Should she wake Mom? Jake? It would have been the smart thing. But by the time they got here, it might all be over. Besides, she couldn’t have looked away if she tried. She had never seen anything like this. No one had ever seen anything like this.
The small group of shooting stars heading north drew her attention. She tried to judge their course, tried to figure out where they would land. To her, it looked like they would come down in the upper valley and the mountains to the west.
She was safe, her family was safe. They were not going to be destroyed by falling debris, or whatever this was. Sighing heavily with the realization of their continued safety, she watched until the last light had disappeared over the horizon.
As the darkness returned, and the sounds of the valley resumed. A cold shiver ran down her spine. Whatever had happened, she felt a change washing over her. Things were going to be different, she thought. She didn’t know how, didn’t know when, but she was positive, they were going to be different.
The valley of Drake’s Rift, her family’s valley, was not going to be the same.
.o0o.
Halfway around the galaxy, on the planet Taurus, Imperial Marine Sergeant Dex Carter smiled to himself as he looked out over the base from the hill outside the wire. The early sunrise was just breaking over the far horizon. A long morning run had put him in a good mood.
Ten years, he thought, ten years in His Majesties Imperial Marines, and life couldn’t get much better. Ever since the second day of boot camp, the day after his seventeenth birthday. All he had ever wanted was to be a platoon sergeant. The center of the action. The tip of the spear.
For the last two years, he’d been living his dream. What next? he wondered.
He’d been across the galaxy four different times. He’d fought warlords on Glarr and pirates in the Crulet system. He’d sampled beer in every tavern between here and Montlake. Swam naked in the red lake of Valeria under three moons and hunted Yarks on the plains of Intrepid. To top it off, there was more than one woman on more than one planet that would be thrilled to hear he was in town. A guy had to admit, not bad for a twenty-seven-year-old, the son of a dentist from the suburbs of Pyre.
Most important, though, he’d turned a ragtag group of fresh recruits into a top platoon.
Even with all of that, a nagging thought tugged at him. There had to be more to life. Something to fill this hole that was starting to build inside of him. Was it time to think about settling down? Was that what he was missing, a family? A wife? Something more.
Shaking his head, he shuddered as he started towards the base. Where did this idea about a wife and kids come from? If the Marines wanted him to have a wife, they’d have issued him one.
Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he turned to head to the barracks when the tablet buzzed in his shoulder pocket.
Pulling the reader, he frowned while he studied the screen. As he read, his skin turned cold, sending a chilly shiver down his spine.
** All Imperial Marines return to barracks. Prepare for immediate deployment. This is not a drill. **
Swallowing hard, he read the message again. Then, he reread those last five words. ‘This is not a drill.’
Not good, he thought. All hell was breaking loose, and he wasn’t there with his men.
Forgetting his sore muscles or the stitch in his side from the morning’s run, he sprinted towards the barracks.
As he ran, he wove back and forth between other Marines racing for their own units. Men with serious expressions and a fierce determination to get to the right place as fast as possible.
Slamming the barracks door open, he raced into the long hall and called out. “Daniels, Obamway, Jones,” at the top of his lungs. That familiar smell of wood, men, and brass cleaner washed over him. The warm embrace of home.
Immediately, his three corporals stepped out into the hallway. Each had been inspecting their squad’s preparation for deployment like they were supposed to.
Dex sighed, his men knew what to do. He needed to slow down and trust his corporals. He’d trained them. They wouldn’t let him down.
“Report,” he said as started for his room at the end of the hall. Pulling his sweat covered uniform over his head.
“First Squad present,” Daniels said.
“Second Squad present,” Obamway said with his normal scowl.
Corporal Jones hesitated for a minute, “Third Squad, nine present, one absent.”
“Who?” Dex asked as he halted to pierce Jones with a disappointed stare.
Smith swallowed hard then said, “Cleaver.”
Dex rolled his eyes and shook his head. Why was he not surprised? The kid was never where he was supposed to be. If he wasn’t so damn good in a fight, the Captain would have bounced his ass a year ago.
“Okay, get your men ready. Full armor, weapons issued, combat packs. Have them formed up in ten.”
As the last word left his mouth, the back door to the barracks blew open as Private Ben Cleaver rushed into the hall. Sliding to a quick halt when he saw his sergeant scowling at him.
“Get your butt in gear,” Dex said to the young private with his angry gravel voice that his platoon knew meant there would be no discussion. Just do it and shut up.
Cleaver nodded and scurried past them into his team’s room.
Dex tried to hide a smile. All his chicks were in place and under his wing. He could at least let that worry go. Now it was just a matter of figuring out what the hell was going on and what they were getting themselves into.
Leaving his corporals to take charge of their men, he hurried to his room to get into his own gear. As he donned his armor, he thought of the privates getting ready for their first combat. The backbone of the Marines, he thought. Each private a part of a three-man team. Three teams with a corporal a squad. Three ten-man squads, a platoon with a sergeant. Three platoons for a company. Plus, the heavy weapon team and the command team. All of them together. A ninety-nine-man company overseen by a captain.
Three companies for a battalion. Three battalions for a regiment. Three regiments for a brigade, three brigades for a division, and three divisions of ten thousand men each for the Corps.
Thirty thousand men spread across the entire galaxy. He wondered if they were all getting ready for deployment or just the Marines of the First Division here on Taurus.
Grabbing his combat pack and his rifle, he headed for the parade ground.
“What’s going on, Sarge?” one of the men called to him.
Dex turned to see two dozen men looking at him expectantly. They are nervous, he thought. This wasn’t normal procedure. Usually, they’d have been briefed up the ying-yang. Hell, usually, there would have been two weeks’ worth of rumors before something like this happened.
He smiled reassuringly, “Does it matter?” he said. “You are Imperial Marines. Someone, somewhere, is going to get their asses kicked. Just remember, the only thing you have to worry about is pissing me off.”
The men smiled.
His insides, however, turned over. Until he knew what was going on, he wouldn’t really be able to relax. Despite what the men might think. Sergeant Dex Carter cared about them deeply. The thought that he might lose some of them tore at his soul.
But, he was an Imperial Marine, First Platoon Sergeant of Bravo Company, 2nd battalion, of the Taurus Regiment. It was his job to destroy the enemies of the empire. Simple really.
Or at least it would be when someone told him what the hell was going on.
Chapter Two
Professor Janet Sinclair tried to understand what was happening. She was in the middle of her lecture on the marsupials of Siska when her boss, the head of the Biology department, Dr. Timlinson, rushed into her classroom and physically pulled her into the hall.
His beet-red face and rushed breath made her wonder if the man was having a heart attack.
“The Palace called. They want you over there. Right away.”
Professor Sinclair frowned in confusion. The Palace. Why would they want her?
Dr. Timlinson instantly recognized her obvious confusion and said, “I don’t know why. They wouldn’t tell me. Only to get you over there immediately. I have a vehicle ready to take you.”
Janet balked. She wasn’t dressed for the Palace. She didn’t know anyone at the Imperial Palace. She didn’t even know anyone who knew anyone at the Palace.
Why her? Why now? She was a Xenobiologist here at the university. She studied alien life forms and taught what she knew to young people. Most of whom couldn’t care less.
None of this made sense. As the vehicle made its way to the Palace, she tried to logically dissect the problem.
At thirty-five, she wasn’t old enough to really be considered for any senior academic position. Her research was not that controversial. Her latest paper on why humanity had not discovered any other cognizant species in the galaxy hadn’t stirred up much debate. In fact, she would be surprised if ten people had read the paper.
She wasn’t married, and not currently attached to anyone. So that wasn’t the issue.
Her heart raced when the vehicle pulled into the Palace gates. The fact that she was a little in awe surprised her. She had always considered herself a reasonable, rational person. A scientist, not easily impressed by the trappings of power.
But there was something about the fairytale quality of the Imperial Palace that made her heart beat just a little faster.
Frowning at herself, she allowed a young aide to guide her through the front door and into the great hall. The same hall she had seen hundreds of times on the vids.
It looked even more impressive in real life. Tall statues, gold leaf decorations. Imperial Marines in full dress uniforms at attention, servants in livery scurrying around.
She halted and took it all in. Heaven knew she would never get another chance like this.
“Please, Dr. Sinclair, we need to hurry,” the aide said as he motioned for her to follow him.
Janet nodded and tried to keep up as the aide hurried up the stairs.
As they wove their way through the hallways of the Palace, Janet’s heart beat faster and faster. Everyone looked so se
rious. So worried. What did these people have to worry about? They worked at the heart of the galaxy. At the very seat of power. What could possibly disturb them?
At last, the aide stopped before a set of large double doors and drew a deep breath. As he composed himself, he glanced at Janet, giving her a quick examination, then shrugged his shoulders as if she didn’t quite meet his expectations but he was stuck with her.
She felt a small anger begin to build inside of her as she prepared to call him on his dismissive look. But then, before she could say anything, he turned and opened the door and her world changed.
There, standing near a large round table were the power brokers of the universe. The men and women who controlled things. The people who pulled at the levers of power.
Her heart jumped into her throat as she recognized Aurora Clemmons, the Foreign Minister. And Admiral Frank Jacobs, the head of the Imperial Navy. And there, off to the right was Senator Paul Richards, Majority Leader of the Imperial Senate.
What was she doing here? she wondered to herself. She was a lowly professor at Taurus University. Why did they want her?’
Glancing quickly at the young aide, she raised an eyebrow in question, as if to ask ‘Are you sure I’m in the right place?’ The aide simply smiled and held the door open a little more.
Janet forced her feet to move. Taking her into the inner sanctum of the Imperial Cabinet room.
“Ahhh, Doctor Sinclair,” a young admiral in full dress uniform said as he stepped towards her. “Thank you for coming.”
Her mind tumbled over a thousand different questions as she tried to bring some kind of order to her thinking.
The man was handsome, strong jaw, black hair, in his early forties. Young for the two wide stripes on his uniform sleeve. His smile seemed relaxed. Not forced. As if he were actually glad that she was there.
Why? she wondered.
“Mac McKenzie,” he said as he held out his hand for hers. “Everyone calls me Mac. I’ve admired your work for quite some time.”