The Last Starship

by Marcus Riddle

  Science Fiction:

  The Last Starship

  (The Atlantis Book One)

  Marcus Riddle

  Science-Fiction: The Last Starship (The Atlantis Book One)

  Marcus Riddle

  Copyright © 2016

  Published by Roam Free Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Science-Fiction: The Last Starship (The Atlantis Book One)

  THE FIGHT TO SAVE EARTH HAS BEGUN.

  They are growing stronger. Faster. Bigger.

  In 2076, Jake Larson, the captain of The Atlantis, and his crew are struggling to defend earth against constant alien attacks. He has just lost six of the last seven starships defending the planet.

  He knows something has to change. He knows that he can’t go on fighting like this. He knows he has to do something extreme.

  Faced with an extinction-level threat, Captain Jake Larson and First Officer Joanne Hart are faced with their toughest choice yet.

  To avert the looming catastrophe, they need to trust their enemy…

  The Last Starship

  (The Atlantis Book One)

  Marcus Riddle

  Chapter 1

  Even though it was over, Jake couldn’t stop himself from reliving the battle. They’d lost six out of the seven ships they had, and only his, the Atlantis, was left.

  Nothing he did was good enough.

  He did his best to save the others, taking out as many alien crafts as possible, but there were just too many of them this time. They were growing stronger and Jake knew they couldn’t last another year against them. The year 2076 was drawing to a close, and he wasn’t sure that he would see the start of 2077.

  Shaking his head, he decided to stop focusing on things he couldn’t change. All he could do was keep protecting Earth, all the while hoping it wouldn’t be long until those six ships, and their crews were replaced, because they were needed more than ever now.

  With deep and heavy breaths, he walked onto the bridge.

  For a moment, everyone stopped and saluted him before resuming their work.

  Sighing, he walked over to where Joanne Hart was standing. “Any sign?”

  “None so far.”

  “Good.” He touched her shoulder. “You should get some sleep.”

  “I know, but sleep hasn’t been that easy recently.”

  “Talk to Doc. He has something that will help.”

  “You using it?”

  “Seemed like the best idea.”

  Their eyes met, and Jake wished there was some way for the two of them to remove the memories of the battle.

  “I need you to be at your best, Jo, so if you need to take something to sleep then do it. It’s not a weakness. Not after what we’ve been through.”

  “Okay.” Joanne smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “We’re friends first, remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember, Captain.”

  “I made the best choice when I picked my first officer.” He smiled back. “Now, go and get some sleep. I’ll wake you if anything interesting happens.”

  With a nod, Joanne walked off, leaving Jake to keep an eye on everything.

  He didn’t watch her go, even though a part of him wanted to.

  Losing her would be… he shook the notion away. The Atlantis was severely damaged, as was some of his crew, his friends, including Joanne. Watching her go through that was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do.

  People thought they were together. But most of the time they laughed it off, joking about how impossible it is for most people to believe that two people of opposite genders can just be friends.

  Some days he wished things were different. Joanne was his best friend, nothing more, and he knew that if she’d been a male, there wouldn’t have been any conversation.

  Pushing the thought aside, he focused on what was happening in space, because the last thing he wanted was for them to be attacked when he wasn’t paying enough attention.

  Jake knew his crew understood. They’d all been dealing with the same thing. They’d all lost people they cared about on the other ships, and on the Atlantis, so it wasn’t unusual for one of them to lose themselves in thoughts of the carnage.

  They all wished they could change what happened.

  He knew that because he was the one who’d spoken to everyone about how they were feeling. Understanding his crew was important, and being there for them at difficult times even more so. They all knew he was there to lend an ear.

  Even though it was hard, he wanted them to know that he was as much a friend as a Captain, especially seeing he’d trained with over half of them.

  As people realized how dangerous space was, there were fewer applying to join the crews on the ships.

  And that was the last thing Jake needed right now.

  Chapter 2

  “Captain!”

  Jake turned to his communications officer, Katie, who looked uncertain. “I’m getting a transmission from New York, and I believe it’s from the Emperor.”

  For a long time, far longer than normal, all Jake could do was stare at Katie. “The Emperor is getting in contact with us?”

  “He won’t confirm it for me alone. He will confirm it to you.”

  “Put him on the screen.” Jake turned, barely comprehending the fact that the Emperor was getting in contact.

  But there he was, on the screen in front of all of them.

  Jake took a deep breath and bowed. “Your eminence, to what do we owe this pleasure?”

  “Bring the Atlantis back to Earth.”

  “But we’re the only one out here.”

  “Don’t argue with me, Captain.” The Emperor glared at him. “Bring the Atlantis back. I have an urgent matter I need to discuss with you, and I don’t want to do it like this.”

  The transmission cut off.

  “Someone get Jo.” Jake brushed a hand through his hair. “There’s something wrong with this.”

  “Yes, there is.” Joanne’s voice was a surprise, and he turned around to face her. “The Emperor shouldn’t call the Atlantis back when we’re the only crew out here protecting the Earth from the aliens, so we have to be ready for the worst.”

  “Which means it’s possible the aliens are forcing him to do this.”

  “Or he’s working with them.”

  Jake shook his head. “Why would he do that?”

  “I don’t know.” She glanced at the blank screen where the Emperor had been and bit her lower lip. “When Father was assassinated he was the last person I thought would be able to claim the position. Had I been a little older, I would’ve taken it myself, but I was too young. People were also worried it might be too easy for the aliens to make me see things from their point of view.”

  “Things are very different now.”

  “Yeah, they are, which is why I’m worried. We are the only ship out here, and it would be easy enough for them to get someone past us.” She shifted her feet. “I don’t like this at all. He never was the sort of person who liked talking via transmitters, so I’m not surprised he would want you down there, but he wouldn’t want the Atlantis docked. He’d want me back up as soon as possible.”

  “Okay, so what do we do?”

  “We have to dock the Atlantis. We don’t have an option. We were given an order from the Emperor, but we need to plan for what’s going to happen when we’re down there.”

  “Nothing can take us by surprise.”

&nbs
p; “Exactly.”

  “Fine.” Jake looked over at Lewis. “Take us down to New York.”

  “Yes, sir.” Lewis studied Jake. “I’ll stay on board and pretend I’m ill, so we can be ready to go if something goes wrong.”

  “Thank you.”

  Of course, they were going to pull together. That was what they did when the unexpected happened.

  Jake turned in a slow circle, taking in his most trusted people. “I want Katie and Leanne to stay with you. As you’re ‘ill’ it’s the least I can do.”

  Lewis smiled. “I appreciate your kindness, sir.”

  “Obviously, Doc will be staying with you as well.”

  “Good.”

  With another sharp breath in, Jake made his way through the doors that led to the armory.

  “What do we take with us?”

  “Everything we can,” Joanne sighed. “I don’t know why this is happening, Jake, but it is, and we need to deal with this the way the Atlantis always has. We fight for our world.”

  She picked up one of the laser guns. “No matter what.”

  Chapter 3

  Docking was the easy part. It was something they’d done a thousand times before.

  When Jake stepped off the Atlantis, he was surprised to find none of the mechanics were there, and he glanced over his shoulder at Joanne.

  “That’s our first sign.” He shook his head. “Anyone who doesn’t want to come with us doesn’t have to.”

  “We’re with you, sir,” a loyal crew member, Otis, spoke up. “After everything we’ve been through you’re the one person we trust to do the right thing.”

  Jake couldn’t help smiling. “Thank you.”

  Knowing his crew were behind him was all his needed.

  “In that case, we need to get moving. The sooner we find out what the Emperor wants the better.”

  All he wanted was to be in space, watching for the next attack, because he knew there was going to be another one.

  “Stay together. No one goes wandering off for any reason,” he instructed.

  Jake started walking in the direction of the door that would lead them out of the docks and on the streets of New York. It wasn’t entirely unusual for there not to be an emissary of the Emperor because they often couldn’t get to the docks as fast as the ships could. But that didn’t stop him from worrying there might be a greater issue.

  He felt Joanne gently touch his shoulder. There were times when he thought she knew him better than he knew himself.

  He glanced at her and could see the same worry mirrored in her eyes. “We’re going to be okay.”

  “I wish I could believe you, Jake,” she said, waver in her voice. “No mechanics? That never happens, even if we haven’t come down for repairs. They’re always here to keep an eye on the ships. Something is very wrong, and I’m certain the Emperor is behind whatever is it.”

  “Unfortunately, I agree.”

  As he stepped out onto the street, he stopped. Frozen. “This is impossible…”

  It was was empty. Soundless.

  This is New York, so where is everyone?

  A shiver ran down Jake’s spine. “Okay, everyone, I want you to keep an eye out for anything that moves. And I mean anything.”

  The walk to the boat that would take them to Emperor’s Island was far longer than he wanted it to be, but they didn’t have any other option. Stealing a car would mean breaking the law, and there was no one around to ask for permission.

  The crew walked down the main street slower than normal. Around them, the city seemed abandoned. Jake looked up at apartment windows, hoping everyone hadn’t been killed and was relieved to see a little girl peering out from behind a curtain. If one little girl was alive, it seemed likely other people were too.

  What he needed to know now was why they were all so afraid.

  “Hiding makes me think we might come across some aliens in the very near future.” Joanne sounded as afraid as he was. “I don’t know if we have the weapons to take them on.”

  “We don’t have any other option, Jo. The Emperor wants to see us. The Emperor has sent us across a city that is probably full of aliens because he doesn’t want us to survive the journey.” Jake sighed. “That seems to be the only logical reason for this.”

  “Unfortunately, I agree.”

  “As they don’t know we’re ready for them we might get lucky.”

  “Maybe. At least, we were ready for this. If we hadn’t thought something like this might be a possibility, we would have left our weapons on the ship and then we would’ve been dead.”

  “Yeah, we would.” Jake heard a noise, coming from around the corner. “You hear that?”

  “I don’t want to be hearing it, but I don’t have a choice, do I?”

  “None of us do.” He turned to look at everyone. His eyes met with Otis. “I want you all ready for whatever is waiting for us. It might be aliens. It might be nothing.”

  Everyone nodded. “We’re as ready as we’re ever going to be, sir,” Otis said.

  “Then let’s go.” Jake readied his weapon, hoping he wasn’t going to find aliens around the corner. “Now.”

  Catching the aliens by surprise made it easier for Jake and his crew. The aliens expected to come up against a group of careless humans who weren’t ready for an attack. What they ended up dealing with was something entirely different - and everyone in Jake’s crew wanted the aliens to hurt for the pain they’d caused.

  Jake shot alien after alien. He knew that wasn’t going to be enough to kill them, but it would keep them down for long enough.

  As they kept coming, one after the other, he realized there had to be at least a hundred of them, probably more. And all just to take out one crew?

  Obviously, the Emperor wasn’t taking any chances, and that meant there were some big problems.

  Doing his best not to think about what those problems might be, Jake focused on shooting the aliens. He wanted them dead as quickly as possible and watched as several of his crew worked on taking them down.

  Jake shot another alien over the head of Joanne, and she nodded over at him with thanks. Neither of them smiled. It was impossible to smile when you knew the ruler of your world wanted you dead.

  Again, Jake pushed the thought away.

  He kept an eye on the gunned down aliens and shot any that were still moving. He wasn’t taking any chances. Not this time. He’d lost enough crew members to last a lifetime.

  Finally, the one thousand aliens were annihilated. Otis made one last sweep of the bodies.

  Jake shook his head vigorously. “Otis, I want you, Mac, and Frankie to go back with the salvage. Get it back to the ship as soon as possible. Try to find someone who’ll talk to you about what’s happened.”

  Otis picked up two of the huge bags. “Do you want us to meet you at the boat?”

  “Stay with the ship. I have a feeling we’re going to need to take off with speed, so I want you all ready, even if I don’t make it.” Otis opened his mouth and looked like he was about to argue.

  “Lewis is fully capable of taking control,” Jake added with a fake smile. “I know how easy it would be for someone to take Jo and me out. I will do my best to get there, but I know Lewis will be able to keep you as safe as I can.”

  “I understand, sir.” Otis surveyed Jake. “What do you want us to do with the salvage?”

  “Go through it. Make sure everything you have is of use. I left Katie on the ship because she should be able to help you sort through it. She knows what to look out for.”

  As Otis, Mac, and Frankie walked away, Jake was glad all his crew had more than one skill. That was part of the reason he’d chosen them for the Atlantis. Being able to rely on them for everything he needed them to do… it was a relief.

  Knowing he might be taking on the Emperor of Earth… he clenched his fists. It seemed impossible, but if the Emperor was working with the aliens that meant he was working against the world he’d sworn to protect.

&
nbsp; “We’re going to keep going, nice and slow because there’s no way of knowing whether or not there might be another ambush.”

  Jake hoped it wouldn’t happen again. He didn’t know how much power the laser guns still had left, and he doubted they’d be able to charge them up anywhere.

  “I want to get to the boat as quickly as possible, so does anyone know a shortcut?” He’d never needed one before, but there was a first time for anything. “Jo?”

  “To be honest, no. But I know a long cut that might keep us out of sight.”

  “Lead on.”

  Joanne did as he asked, leading the crew down little alleyways Jake didn’t know were even there. All the while they kept an ear out for any more sounds.

  Reaching the boat unharmed was a relief. He took Joanne’s hand and squeezed it before they all clambered into the boat. There was no one there to take them across, which made him even more certain they weren’t meant to survive.

  It’s a good thing Joanne knew how to drive it.

  “When Father was Emperor he had someone teach me how to drive a boat.” She sighed as she recalled the memory. “He wanted to know I was safe because he never felt comfortable. There were far too many people who thought they could do a better job than him, so he was fighting against them at the same time as trying to create laws that would work for everyone. It’s far too easy for the Emperor to focus on the first world and forget about everyone in the third world. Father was doing his best not to be another Emperor like that, and I loved him for it. If I’d taken his position, I would have done exactly the same thing.”

  “You would have made a wonderful Empress.”

  “Maybe,” Joanne chuckled weakly. “To be honest, all I really wanted was for Father to keep the position, but he was assassinated right in front of me.”

  She blinked and Jake knew she was trying to stop herself from crying. “No one knew who was behind it.”

  Chapter 4

  Emperor Island was busy. That was the first normal thing Jake had seen in the last few hours, but he didn’t recognize anyone.

  Had the Emperor replaced all the staff in the time since Jake was last there?

  Anything was possible.