by M. D. Cooper
THE DANCE ON THE
MOONS OF SERENITY
PERSEUS GATE – EPISODE 3
By M. D. Cooper
SPECIAL THANKS
Just in Time (JIT) & Beta Reads
Scott Reid
David Wilson
Copyright © 2017 M. D. Cooper
Cover Art by Andrew Dobell
Editing by Tee Ayer
All rights reserved.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
SABRINA’S CREW
THE HOUSES OF SERENITY
HEALING WATERS
A PUSH AND A SHOVE
ADRIFT IN THE DARK
RESCUED…SORT OF
BREAKING FAST
MEETING ANASTASIA
LEARNING THE MOVES
CHANGE OF VENUE
THE DANCE
UNVEILING
PICKUP
AEON 14 BOOKS BY M. D. COOPER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FOREWORD
I had a blast writing this story. To a certain extent, it has satisfied my desire (for a time) to write high fantasy. It also has a touch of a Dune feel to it. However, if there are any stark comparisons, I hope you’ll forgive me as it has been decades since I read Dune, and any direct correlations are entirely unintentional.
I’ll also note that while this story focuses entirely on Jessica and Cheeky, I do intend to have the whole crew back in the limelight in the next book: The Last Bastion of Star City.
That book will also give you some time with Misha and his first few days aboard Sabrina, so if you have a hankering for that, it will come, trust me.
Finally, as I wrote this story, and layered on the political and cultural layers to the Houses of Serenity, I found that I really could have made this into a full-length novel. Alas, Amazon does not allow the changing of pre-order dates, and missing a date has severe consequences, so the real world dictates that I must keep this story as a novella.
However, perhaps some day we’ll revisit The Serenity Ordus and the Houses of Serenity....
M. D. Cooper
PREVIOUSLY IN THE PERSEUS GATE…
After escaping the Transcend’s operation at the Grey Wolf Star, the crew of Sabrina ended up in the Naga System on the far reaches of settled space.
There they managed some repairs to Sabrina, but also made new enemies in the RHY Dynamics Corporation, and a pair of bounty hunters named Jenn and Macy.
They also picked up a new crew member named Misha, who provided detailed dark layer maps of the region around the Naga System.
Jessica found herself in the sights of Phoebe, debutante working for RHY on their Retyna project, which saw Jessica get an unexpected upgrade allowing her to now generate energy via microbes living in her artificial skin.
After destroying a planet where the RHY Dynamics Corporation was developing a biological weapon for the OFA government to use in the war against the Transcend, Sabrina and crew fled the Naga System.
A few weeks later we find Jessica and Cheeky relaxing in a spa on the Olvives asteroid in the Kidron System while Sabrina and the rest of the crew make an insystem haul to generate extra credit before continuing on their journey to the New Canaan system, over ten-thousand light years away….
SABRINA’S CREW
Cargo – Ship’s Captain
Cheeky – Pilot
Erin – AI embedded in Nance
Finaeus – Passenger
Jessica – First Mate
Hank – AI embedded in Cargo
Iris – AI embedded in Jessica
Nance – Bio/Engineer
Piya – AI embedded in Cheeky
Sabrina – Ship’s AI
Trevor – Supercargo and muscle
NOTE: When Sabrina is italicized, it refers to the ship, but if Sabrina is not italicized, it refers to the AI. Yes, this would be much simpler if the ship and AI did not share the same name, but you try telling that to Sabrina!
Just so you stay on her good side, never call the ship “the Sabrina”; it really gets on her last synthetic neuron.
THE HOUSES OF SERENITY
The Houses of Serenity control the Serenity System and occupy the five moons orbiting the gas giant, Serenity Primus. Together they are the Serenity Ordus.
Five of these houses are known as the High Table, and each controls one of the five moons of Serenity.
These are the moons, their houses, leaders, and scions.
The Moon of Acadia
House: Laurentia (Head of the High Table)
Leader: Anastasia
Scion: Kristina
The Moon of Mesophis
House: Nebacken
Leader: Lena
Scion: Lorana
The Moon of Gallas
House: Charlemis
Leader: Justina
Scion: Pharis
The Moon of Yucana
House: Mepholec
The Moon of Teros
House: Paladis
HEALING WATERS
STELLAR DATE: 10.14.8938 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Healing Waters Mineral Spa, Olvives, Kidron System
REGION: Orion Freedom Alliance, Perseus Arm
“This is the life,” Jessica said as she leaned back in the warm water. She closed her eyes and listened to the soft sounds of the bubbling stream echoing off the walls and ceiling of the cavern.
“Mmmmm, you say something, Jess?” Cheeky asked.
Jessica cracked an eye open and watched Cheeky float by, only half-submerged in the buoyant water.
“Exactly,” Jessica said with a dreamy smile.
Cheeky paddled closer and reached the edge of the pool where Jessica sat with her feet hooked into stirrups on the bottom of the pool to keep them from floating up.
Cheeky let out a long sigh of contentment as she settled into place next to Jessica. “We need to get a mineral water cavern on Sabrina. Think we could convince Nance to go with it?”
Jessica laughed softly. “Doubtful, she still avoids touching me as much as she can manage. I can’t imagine what she’d have to say about whatever is probably in this water.
Cheeky looked around at the water, which sparkled with a purple light in Jessica’s vicinity. “Yeah, when I asked her if she wanted to come here with us, she said something along the lines of ‘What? Soak in pond scum inside some asteroid? No thanks!’.”
Jessica laughed softly, swirling her hand through the water. “Seriously, what could possibly be in here that our mundane can’t deal with?”
“Jessica! Seriously. Don’t say things like that, I just got real skin back, I don’t want it to get infected and peel off or something.”
Cheeky gave a soft laugh. “I think you have me mixed up with Jess. She has the shiny skin.”
“Whatever,” Cheeky said with a snort.
Jessica reached out and patted Cheeky on the shoulder. “Your skin looks good, Cheeks. Just the way it’s supposed to.”
“Good thing too, these folks in Kidron are more into standard fare. I would have had slim pickin’s if I still had my plasti-skin. You’re lucky you’re celibate now, Jess. You’d never get any here, being all glowy and stuff.”
Jessica laughed. “I’m monogamous, Cheeky, not celibate.”
“Same difference,” Cheeky said with an exaggerated shrug.
“I get more than you do. You have to do without whenever we’re not docked,” Jessica said with a note of superiority in her voice.
Che
eky’s eyes darted toward Jessica and one corner of her mouth turned up. “Think so?”
“Well, I know Nance still isn’t in the mood—unless you’ve been giving her an outlet for her frustrations.”
“Nah.” Cheeky shook her head. “Nance still needs some time after Thompson. It’s only been a few months. Maybe when we get back in the black I’ll feel her out…figuratively speaking.”
“Right, figuratively.” Jessica laughed.
“But just because Nance is in recovery from that giant hairy asshole whose name we no longer speak, doesn’t mean I’ve been resorting to mechanical assistance.”
Jessica, realized what Cheeky must be getting at and turned to look at her friend full in the face. “Nooooo.”
Cheeky nodded and closed her eyes, a small smile of satisfaction her lips. “Oh yeah, he’s like a well-aged wine. Good vintage too.”
“But he’s…Finaeus…he’s…weird. And he’s Sera’s uncle… that’s even weirder.”
“Eh.” Cheeky shrugged. “He’s funny, and he and I…well, we have a special bond.”
“Just ‘cause you almost got sucked into a black hole together that one time doesn’t mean you should go shacking up.”
Cheeky cracked an eyelid and looked at Jessica. “Seriously? That’s like…the best reason ever for shacking up with someone. I bet there are no two other people alive who have been through what he and I have…and survived. Thank you again for that, by the way. After that fancy flying I feel like you should be Sab’s pilot.”
Jessica snorted. “Don’t start with that again, Cheeky. You and Sabs are made for one another. If you ever decide to leave your body, you’ll be a starship.”
“Leave my body?” Cheeky asked, aghast. “I would never leave this body…although…I wonder what it would be like to be the SS Sexy.”
Jessica laughed. “Now you’re just avoiding the fact that you’ve been screwing the old man.”
“Don’t you give me any grief, Jessica. You’ve told me about your escapades back in your youth. I don’t have half the notches on my bedframe that you do.”
“Yeah, well, a lot of that was for work,” Jessica said with a scowl.
“OK, taking out your work, our notches are about even,” Cheeky said. “The point is, you’ve been confined to quarters on starships before for screwing everyone onboard and causing no end of marital spats. Why does the thought of Finaeus and me bother you so much?”
Jessica looked up at the ceiling of the cavern, some ten meters above; glad no one else was in the pool to overhear this conversation. “I don’t really know. I guess it’s because he’s so old!”
“So are you,” Cheeky said with a soft laugh. “I still think you’re totally fuckable.”
“Thanks Cheeks, glad to know I pass muster with you…even though I’m so old.”
“Well, you are. You’re what? Two hundred?”
“No! I’m…”
“See, old!” Cheeky grinned and gave Jessica a small tap on the arm with her index finger. “You have a hundred years on me.”
“Yeah, a hundred years is normal, but Finaeus has thousands of years on you. He…ugh…”
Cheeky giggled. “That was your I-just-thought-of-something-gross sound. Spill it.”
“I was just thinking of some sort of way to describe how old he is, and this mental image popped into my mind of how big the pile of toenails he must have clipped would be if it were all put together.”
Cheeky snorted. “And that’s terribly gross?”
“I did the math…it’s bigger than Sabrina.”
“Nooooo…” Cheeky breathed. “Piya? Give a girl an assist on that one?”
“Well, that’s good at least,” Cheeky said with a grin. “Imagine hauling a ship full of toenail clippings?”
“This is the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had,” Jessica said with a grimace.
“I sincerely doubt that,” Cheeky replied. “I know for a fact that you and I have had at least eleven conversations far stranger than this one. Though two of those have also centered around your distaste for toenails.” As she spoke, Cheeky raised a foot out of the water and wiggled her toes at Jessica.
“Well, your toenails don’t bother me,” Jessica said. “They’re perfectly manicured. Cargo on the other hand…guh.”
“His toenails are fine, he just doesn’t clip them that often,” Cheeky said with a shrug.
“Does he know we have nano for that?”
“Seriously, Jess, you’re starting to remind me of Nance here. Just because you don’t have to clip your toenails…”
Jessica stuck her foot out of the water. “That’s because I don’t have any. Best part of no real skin is no real toenails.”
Cheeky laughed. “Stars, you’re weird, Jess. Though I’ll admit, they look pretty cute, like little blueberries.”
“Yeah, totally adorbs,” a voice from behind the pair commented.
Jessica turned her head and studied two women standing in the entrance to the cavern. They were both armored, and held pulse pistols. One had thick white hair pulled into a braid, and the other was bald with shifting tattoos covering her head.
“You’re not really going to get the full effect of the waters with that armor on,” Jessica said with a grin.
Cheeky groaned. “Jessica, meet Macy and Jenn, or as I like to call them, Baldy-Tats and Whitey-Braid.”
Jessica turned and placed her hand on the towel behind her on the edge of the pool. “Nice to meet you two. So, which of you is which? I want to make sure I don’t go calling Baldy Jenn when she’s Macy.”
Macy—the bald one as it turned out—growled. “Shut the fuck up with that. I’m Macy, she’s Jenn.”
“Noted,” Jessica replied. “What brings you to these parts?”
“Your indestructible ship,” Jenn said.
“Whoa,” Jessica said. “Don’t go laying all the cards on the table so fast. You gotta be coy about it, ease into it. Work up to trying to steal our ship from us.”
“Although it’ll be tough. It’s not even here,” Cheeky said.
“We noticed,” Macy said. “But you’re going to take us to it.”
“And if we don’t?” Jessica asked.
“Then things will get messy,” a new voice said—this one male.
Jenn and Macy parted to reveal a man walking into the grotto.
“There goes the neighborhood,” Cheeky muttered.
“This is our friend, Derrick,” Macy said. “He’s also very interested in your ship.”
“Particularly in how it can smash planets,” Derrick added.
Jessica looked the newcomer over. He was tall and well-muscled. His right hand was missing, and had been replaced with a strange silver sphere, and a thick silver band wrapped around the back of his head, ending where his ears would have been—had he any.
He was unarmored, with only a tight silver suit covering his body, though there were two handguns strapped to his thighs.
Jessica would have considered him to be rather attractive, were his skin not a pewter color—something about grey skin just put her off, almost worse than bad toes. Silver she could deal with, but not grey.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jessica replied to the intruders. “We didn’t leave Hermes station on our former vessel, the Matron Tulip…may she forever rest in the void. Our ship is the SS Sexy. It’s in dock; you can check with the Olvives dockmaster.”
“You mean the ship you stole from RHY, Retyna Girl?” Macy asked with a smirk.
&
nbsp; “Sheesh. What are you two? Detectives?” Cheeky asked.
“If they were,” Jessica said. “They’d know we pulled out of Hermes on the Sexy and flew off here to mourn the loss of our friends on the Matron Tulip. RHY gave me this ship as part of my advance on royalties for my work as Retyna girl.”
“Oh yeah?” Derrick asked. “I have some friends who work for RHY’s branch in the Kidron system. Think I should ask them about that? I could also let them know the ship that smashed Marsalla—their favorite new planet—to pieces, is still around. I bet they’d love to hear about that. How’s that for detective work?”
Jessica sighed and rose from the water, carefully picking up her towel and wrapping it around her waist, holding it—and the gun inside—in place with left hand. “So, what happens next?”
Derrick pulled his eyes from Jessica’s breasts to her face, a lascivious smile on his face. “Well, we know your other ship, the Tulip—or the Stinging Nettle as it seems to be named now—came into Kidron five days ago. It picked up some insystem cargo from Heshron Station, and then flew to Pela for delivery, but not before you two took off in your little stolen ship.”
“The Sexy,” Cheeky said.
“Whatever. We’ve been waiting for your ship to come back and pick you two up, but so far they’re still on the far side of the system,” Macy added. “But we got bored, so here we are.”
“So, a hostage play in exchange for the ship?” Cheeky asked as she stepped out of the pool as well, grabbing a towel and drying herself off.
Derrick grinned. “You got it girlie!”
Cheeky looked to Jessica. “How original.”
Jessica shrugged and turned to Derrick. “Well, they’re not coming back here. They took a shipment to Serenity, we’re to head out tomorrow and meet them there.”