I had control over my anger at that point in the conversation, and I still believed the course I’d initially thought of was the correct one. Not a good one, but the only option I could live with.
I shook my head, “No, I hope it was worth deceiving me. Pack up, get the hell off my station. Do whatever you want out there, but you’ll do it without my help. I’m recalling all my fleets, save the picket fleets on the borders. I’ll continue to guard the seventy-six galaxies from the twelve surrounding empires, but that’s it.”
There were fourteen fleets and borders, but two of them were in common with the Vrok so it was just twelve empires.
I stood up, and I walked out of the conference room. I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do or not, but I didn’t know what else to do. They’d deceived me, used me, broken faith, to continue on like it hadn’t happened wasn’t acceptable. There were forty countries out in space, those eight were just the major ones besides Astraeus. They were also the ones with the most influence on the planet, and the ones that had joined with me to set the rules out there for all of us in space.
When my wife’s upgrades came through, I’d be offering to sell the upgrades to thirty-two colonies only. America, England, Russia, China, Japan, Israel, France, and Australia could figure it out their damned selves. Not one of them had warned me of the deception, even if a few had disagreed with it. Oh, I’d still sell ships and products to their citizens, but their militaries and government could screw off when it came to warships and upgrade packages.
Not forever maybe, but I wasn’t sure what it would take to restore trust between us.
A part of me also wondered if it would’ve been different if I’d revealed my successful espionage mission, but that wasn’t my fault and it didn’t excuse their actions. They’d hidden their true plans from me, so I didn’t have that opportunity. Plus, no countries shared their intelligence and counter-intelligence black-ops missions.
Most of all, I felt like a damned idiot. I’d known the plan was doomed to failure, and that should’ve tipped me off. Assuming they were too stupid to see it despite me predicting how it went, should’ve clued me in that it wasn’t their whole plan. I’d assumed they were being led by fear, and while that was true it hadn’t blinded them in quite the way I’d guessed.
I packaged up the meeting, and sent it to Cassie, Jayna, and Jessica. I blind copied my wife, just to keep her in the loop, though her responsibilities didn’t cross there.
Lastly, I did as I promised when I got to the command center. I pulled all sixteen million of my four fleets out, and I returned them to my hiding spot in the void. Of course, I still had probes in all of their systems, and the three million pre-FTL race systems as well, so I wasn’t exactly blind to what was going on or what would happen.
Cassie cursed vociferously.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
For the first time in thirteen years, I cut off the feed to the joint command center. My ships were no longer their business. I hated doing it, because I knew things would spiral and get worse, as they grew paranoid about my intentions and lost all influence with me.
But, as they say in playground parlance, they started it. I’d had no choice but to respond, it was either that or be their puppet they could lie to and manipulate, which wasn’t an option at all. I’d run my space station country, and they could run theirs and do what they wanted.
I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I had to hope my wife would have it all sorted before the Vrok did. It all came down to the next five or six days. There was very little doubt in my mind they’d attack, as soon as they had the tech to suppress our jump drives, they’d act.
Epilogue – Interlude
Sinzan was angry, it would take decades to rebuild their space infrastructure and rebuilding their fleet to a proper number would take another thirty years after that. They couldn’t even bring in real live food, so they had to suffer with emergency rations. They had everything their bodies needed, but they were very unsatisfying. There was also a human ship in orbit, making surrender demands.
He ignored it of course, the Vrok did not surrender, and even if the fools did follow through on their threats the fleets would ensure their eventual victory. Once the drive suppression device was created, his fleets would cut down the human ships like a field of helpless herd animals.
Sinzan accepted the communication from Hunt Master Oldun. Normally he’d demand the commander of all his fleets show up in person, but that wasn’t an option with the fleets in hiding.
“Report!”
Oldun bowed, “We have gathered in the void where their ships cannot find us. It won’t be long, Exalted one. The fools guard our borders, so they will be easily reclaimed without waking up our other seven enemy empires. Once the humans are destroyed, I will report for judgement.”
Sinzan waved a claw, “That will not be necessary. This unfortunate situation is the fault of your predecessor, and I find you innocent of fouling the hunt and commend you for doing the best you can in an untenable situation. What’s the status of our progress?”
Oldun said, “The device has already been tested, the quantum resonance pulse successfully scrambled our communicators. I estimate it will take two days for us to refine enough of the required alloy to outfit five thousand ships in every fleet. The fabrication and installation should take no longer than a day.”
Sinzan growled, “Are you sure it will be effective on their jump drives.”
Oldun said, “Our females are, but we will of course need to test it, before we commit all our ships on the hunt. Especially inside solar systems where we can’t retreat if things go wrong via a wormhole. That will only delay our mission a few minutes however. I will have the fleets poised to attack just a few hundred light years from our targets, while one ship makes that determination.”
Sinzan replied, “Approved. I name you my heir, should the humans destroy our home world in retaliation. Which seems likely.”
Oldun bowed his head low, “I accept, but I have a plan for that as well, Exalted one. Their armed hunt-ships are only around ten of our most populous worlds, and only five in number. When there were fifty-five around all of them, a counter would not have been possible.”
Sinzan said, “What plan?”
Oldun told him the simple yet clever plan.
Sinzan, the old Vrok hunter and ruler of all their kind, started to laugh. He’d been sure he was doomed, as were all on his planet, but he’d taken comfort in the knowledge that revenge would be his, and his name would still be recorded as the Exalted One that had perpetrated their largest hunt yet. It was no small thing, since they’d never added more than three galaxies at once before. To triple the size of their empire in one hunt was unheard of in their long history.
Point being, he felt hope he just might survive to enjoy it after all. At least for a few seasons, he was getting old, and would no doubt be challenged soon.
“Approved. Good hunting.”
Oldun bowed his head once more, and the signal cut off.
Just three days, and this would be over one way or another.
“We will celebrate, bring in the food!”
Several of the warriors in the great hall cheered, and they looked in anticipation at the large doors as the screaming bipeds from their last food shipment were heard from a distance.
Life was good.
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and I would greatly appreciate any constructive feedback or opinions.
This was the first book in the second arc of the Technomancer series which will have another three novels in it in total. Four through six. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it was a good place to stop the story, after the second battle and unexpected fallout. There’ll be a lot going on in the second book. Not just the Vrok or the repercussions on what Scott’s human allies just did, but more as well throughout the galaxies. I h
aven’t forgotten about Darrell either…
About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected] If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison
Other books by D. L. Harrison:
http://www.amazon.com/author/dlharrison
The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately, she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.
The Rise of a Dark Mage - This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Cassandra, it takes place in the same world as The Formerly Dark Mage, but happens three hundred years later, long after Silvia is gone and some shocking changes have taken place in the world.
Cassandra is a dark mage in the kingdom of Zual, she’s also a mage prodigy.
She hates both her kingdom, and her master. She wants him dead, not to take his place, but so she can leave and explore the world. Her ambition will drive her to rediscover the secrets of the strongest of magic.
She is determined to succeed, or she’ll die trying.
Celia Winters Novel Series
Witch’s Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1
Celia Winters was raised by her single mother, and her earliest memories are of the store her mother owns and the nearby coven, who have always been her family’s close allies and friends.
She grew up believing her magic was weak, but she was satisfied with her life, and happy. She was a midwife, healer, and supplier of surrounding covens.
Then her mother died, and she’s about to discover she isn’t who, or what, she believes herself to be, not completely. She will learn that her entire life up until now was a lie. She’ll need to figure out her place, who she is when she no longer recognizes herself, and try to hold on to her closest friends as she gathers enemies for the simple crime of her existence.
She’s stronger than she believes, but will it be enough?
Power of Air Series:
Just a Psychic: The Power of Air Book One starts off this series.
Ben has grown up with missing memories of his early childhood.
He has known he was a psychic since his earliest memories, seeing the future and gaining knowledge with his gifts.
Is it possible he isn't just a psychic?
Ben's world is about to be turned upside down as he turns twenty-one, all is not as it seems.
Alicia Jones novels is a series that follows a bright young inventor and scientist named Alicia Jones. It is a space opera and light science fiction.
The first book is titled First Contact:
Alicia Jones is a genius, and a little odd. At just twenty-three years of age, she is close to finishing her doctoral dissertation. But when she tests her latest theory in the lab to generate a strong EM field, it has very unanticipated results. Results that lead to faster than light travel, and first contact with another race.
Her life just gets more complicated after that, when she finds out who she really is, and that the universe may not be as nice a place as she’d been told. Her determination to help keep Earth safe takes her to places more dangerous and strange than she’d ever envisioned.
Spirit Sorceress series, by D. L. Harrison is a new urban fantasy series. Miku is a spirit sorceress who spent the last one hundred years growing up and learning about her power in the forests near Seattle Washington. She’s about to make her debut in the big city, but not in a way she ever expected.
The first book is titled Spirit Sorceress:
Miku is a spirit sorceress who spent her unusually long childhood in the forest away from the city with her mother and father. After tragedy strikes, she finds herself alone and on her own. She knows that one day she’ll need to move to Seattle, and fully accept her birthright, and if necessary finish her training on her own.
But before she’s ready, and still in grieving, a rogue vampire and his band come along and change everything. She’ll need to learn her new place in the world, and find some allies quick if she’s to survive.
Katrina Baker Novels, by D. L. Harrison is a new series about a super named Katrina Baker. Problem is, she gets caught up in her mother’s plan, who is a mad scientist and supervillain, and gets herself transported to another world in the multi-verse. A world where mages, witches, clerics, and the gods are real. Not to mention the monsters…
The first book is titled Banished:
Katrina baker is a super. She has mental abilities such as telekinesis, telepathy, and others. Her parents are supervillains, and she isn’t all that sure she’s cut out for that line of work. Her empathy with others through her power makes it hard to be uncaring, much less mean or evil to people. Problem is, the last thing she wants to do is disappoint mom and dad.
Katrina gets caught up in her mother’s supervillain plot to get rid the world of the indestructible hero Omega, and that’s when it all goes really wrong, and she finds herself on another world.
Banished.
Will she be able to find her way back home, or even understand this new world of gods and magic, or will she die trying?
Rise of the Empyrean Empire – This series is space opera / science fiction. Space, technology, other worlds, aggressive and far more powerful aliens, artificial intelligence, evolution, and advances to the point humanity doesn’t have to work to maintain infrastructure.
The first book is titled: Scout Ship
Michael Williams followed in his father’s footsteps, and joined the UEDF, the United Earth Defense Force, when he turned eighteen. Due to heroism and long distinguished service he’s elevated to the rank of Lt. Commander when most of his peers have just attained senior lieutenant. His career appears to be going very well.
The year is 2263, and the UEDF is in several star systems in a twenty-light year radius from earth, but are expanding even further. He’s assigned to a one year exploratory mission to become accustomed to his new rank, one that will finally culminate in reaching a new star system, 61-Virginis is just short of twenty-eight light years away, and he’s excited to be one of the first humans in a new solar system as they finish the race across the void between stars in the scout ship Columbus.
There will be challenges he never imagined though, especially not on a simple survey mission. Because mankind always thought they were alone in the stars. They’re about to find out they’re wrong, very wrong…
Book Description
It’s been thirteen years since the Grays were a danger, and their empire had fallen. Things were going well for President Scott Akin, both in his professional and personal life.
Of course, peaceful times couldn’t last forever. One of the other intergalactic empires is looking to expand, had been the last sixty years without their knowledge, and his ships aren’t nearly as invincible as he’d imagined. If that wasn’t enough, he’s no longer unique. His twelve-year-old daughter is like him, a technomancer, a genius like her mother, and has a talent for getting in trouble.
She also may have inherited his youthful tendency to get in over his head.
There are a lot of other problems the stress of impending war brings out as well, not just out there but closer to home as well which will take him off guard.
He’d need to work hard to survive, and after that, survive with the political fallout.
Author’s note: This is primarily a space opera. The fantasy elements of the book are tangential at best, and I don’t believe that will change through the rest of the series. O
h, there’s mages, shifters, witches, and vampires in these pages, but that’s really not the focus.
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