Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller

by Brandon Ellis

  “Slade, I didn’t become President because I’m an idiot. I can smell a lie a mile away.” Craig moved his gaze to Andrea. “What are you testing?” He threw a fist in his hand.

  Andrea looked at Slade.

  Slade cleared his throat. “You’re dismissed, doctor.”

  She dipped her head and backed out of the room, purposely inspecting her holographic pad instead of Craig.

  Craig went to stop her, most likely to show her who was in charge and that it wasn’t Slade. She walked by too quickly and Craig smacked his hands together. “Do not usurp my authority again. You don’t run this ship. I do. No experiments of any kind, Colonel, shall go on without my knowledge or consent from this point forward. That was one of our agreements in the beginning and if you go against that agreement again, I’ll have your balls in a bear trap. Understand?” He widened his stance, chest out—an effective technique to intimidate a politician. Sometimes it worked on high military personnel as well. Only sometimes. They were used to being bullied, so many of them—especially high-ranking officers—stood their ground.

  Slade chuckled. “At ease, President.” He grabbed a towel off a chair and dried himself off. “You see, Craig, we don’t have time to talk over everything. We are almost to Callisto.”

  Craig bit his lip and pointed at the open entryway into the lab. “You realize you and I are not the only ones who know about the pseudo attack that we’re directing with the Secret Space Program.”

  Slade sighed. “Okay, what’s the drama now?”

  “They’ve caught wind...the entire government on this ship...and I don’t know how.”

  Slade dropped the towel, his arms flexing, veins popping out of his neck. “They know? But you wait how long to tell me?”

  Craig handed Slade a piece of paper. “This somehow landed on my desk. We have a mutiny on our hands.”

  Slade read the letter signed by a Senator Ken Furr and walked to the window across from the room. “We’re slowing down?”

  “Yes.”

  “Screw that barrel of monkeys.” Slade pressed a button on the wall, buzzing the onsite Private First Class through the comm. “Get Senator Ken Furr here, now!”

  12

  J-Quadrant, Solar System - Flood of Dawn, Callisto

  Rivkah hung over the edge of the cliff, her fingers holding onto a bush. Its roots were giving way. If she fell, she’d be dead.

  “Fox, help.” Her voice had a tremor and her eyes were glassed over in fear. This was the first time, in a long time, that she had no control. It was up to someone else to help her. Someone in whom she had no trust. Someone who’d screwed her friends over, more than once.

  Fox crouched on one knee and leaned over, purposely flicking white and gray gravel in her face. He put his hand behind his ear. “What was that, Riv? I couldn’t quite hear you. You want what?”

  “You bastard. You callous piece of shit.” The bush gave way an inch and she tipped back more. Rivkah quickly inhaled. She was a dead woman hanging by her own hand.

  “Oh, you want me to help you?”

  If she could take out her phaser and shoot the son of a bitch right where he crouched, she would. But, again, she needed help more than she needed to end this prick’s life.

  “Grab my wrist. Pull me to safety...please…Fox.”

  Fox stood, hands balled in a fist. “Aw, wouldn’t you like that?”

  “I die and you probably die as well. We need you, Jaxx, me and Bogle. It’s that simple. After that, you can try and kill me.”

  Fox scratched his temple, glancing over his shoulder and back at her a couple of times, making light of the situation.

  It was true, if the prophecy was correct, this moon and these Atlanteans needed Fox, Rivkah, Bogle, and Jaxx in order to save them all, including themselves. He had to see that.

  “I’ve tried to kill you so many times, Miss Rivkah Ravenwood. This time, however, it looks like I’m finally going to get my wish.”

  Rivkah’s stomach fluttered and her blood drained from her face. He was right. Fox wasn’t going to help and he somehow got the upper hand, and this time he didn’t even plan the upper hand.

  She closed her eyes. A cool breeze brushed across her face, the sound of silence surrounded her. This would be the last she’d ever take in a breath, the last she’d ever close her eyes again.

  She pulled up her odd, energetic power. Could it lift her in the air, make her fly? She had to try. She concentrated on her feet, rushing up energy through her legs. The root slipped. She gasped, her energy fading.

  A soft cracking sound ripped across the canyon and the bush completely gave way. Instinctively, her other hand came up, grasping for a rock, another bush, something, anything.

  It caught air.

  Rivkah let out a blood curdling scream as she began to fall.

  She sucked in a big breath when she stopped mid-air, her forearm being squeezed, her body lifting up like she was as light as a rag.

  Fox was on his stomach, his fingers folded around Rivkah’s arm. Small pebbles fell off the cliff as he went into a squat and walked backward, dragging her over the cliff’s rocky lip.

  He let go and she lay there, panting, her cheek against the cold stone. “Why did you do that?”

  “You said I could kill you later. Give me your word.”

  She nodded, pushing herself up, then dropped back on the ground as an explosion, accompanied by a small mushroom cloud, surged upward in the north. Rivkah covered her eyes. The blinding reds and yellows glowed across the horizon. The ground shook and a roar pummeled the land. Wind picked up and sand and rock rushed against them, sliding over the cliff and down into the canyon below.

  Seconds later it died down.

  Fox flicked his nostril. “The Kelhoon are at it again. Looks like they’re attacking another city.”

  “The Atlanteans have no chance, especially with the Kelhoon and Slade coming with the SSP.”

  “Nope.”

  They stood, dusting themselves off.

  Rivkah eyed the north. The entire hillside was lit up like glowing coals. “Let’s find Bogle.”

  “Once we find Bogle and get her back into our custody, then I have my eyes on Slade. I can’t wait until he gets here. I’m going to punish that man to hell and back.”

  Rivkah pushed Fox out of the way just as a bolt flew by. She unholstered her blaster, letting a few shots go off wildly.

  Another bolt cracked across the air and Rivkah dropped. She rolled to the side, aiming in the direction of the shots. She held the trigger as blast after blast erupted out of the muzzle.

  Another fizz of electricity buzzed through the air as two more shots went wide.

  “Boulders,” said Fox.

  Rivkah nodded and bolted for the boulders. She skidded behind one, her gun up, her finger on the trigger. She glanced at Fox, already behind another boulder across the way.

  He eyed Rivkah, pointing his index finger and middle finger toward his eyes. He then held up four fingers.

  She walked in a crouch to the edge of the boulder and looked around it. A shot came her way and she whipped back around, hugging the large rock.

  Four Kelhoon, all larger than life, their half-human, half-lizard faces scowling as they slowly moved into position, their rifles aimed forward, ready to blow Rivkah and Fox out of existence. Or, worse yet, do what they usually did and take them as slaves to sell across the galaxy or fatten them up like cattle, anchoring them inside cages, ready to sell to the hungriest lizard-face. All in the name of making galactic money, and lots of it.

  Rivkah picked up a rock and threw it over her shoulder and high into the air. She slid to her stomach, and aimed, positioning most of her body behind the rock.

  A Kelhoon rifle cracked across the wind and the rock Rivkah threw into the air splintered into pieces.

  Perfect.

  Rivkah pulled her trigger twice, quickly inserting two plasma bolts between a Kelhoon’s eyes. His head splattered like a watermelon and his body droppe
d and slumped to the ground. The other Kelhoons scrambled, finding boulders to hide behind.

  Rivkah ran across the ridge and jumped behind another boulder. Now closer to those lizard heads, she was ready to find a nice hole to bury them in.

  She eyed Fox across the way and held up three fingers. He nodded.

  “Rivkah! Fox! Stand down.”

  Rivkah looked around the boulder.

  Bogle stood no less than ten meters from her, the three remaining Kelhoon at her rear, rifles up, ready to fire.

  Rivkah pressed her back against the rock. “Hell, no. You tell your lizard, shit for brain friends to drop their weapons. Then we’ll talk.”

  “Done,” said Bogle.

  “Are you serious?” asked Rivkah. It couldn’t be that easy.

  “Yes.”

  Rivkah eyed Fox, then nodded.

  Fox pulled his holster around to the back of his body, touching it against his sacrum, and holstered his gun.

  Rivkah mimicked him, giving a Fox a quick smile. She glanced around the boulder again. The Kelhoon indeed had their guns on the ground.

  “Coming out,” said Fox, arms by his side.

  Rivkah walked around the rock, keeping her eyes off Bogle and on the Kelhoon. They took several steps forward.

  “Thank you, Rivkah and Fox. It’s time—”

  Fox reached around his back and curled his fingers around the weapon’s grip. In a quick draw, he riddled Bogle with several bolts. She screamed, holding her heart and fell, purple blood gushing out of her chest.

  The Kelhoon drew hidden guns from behind their backs as well, opening fire. Fox dropped and rolled. He aimed his weapon and pulled the trigger.

  A Kelhoon fell.

  Rivkah rushed forward and slid on her back, her gun pointing at the two Kelhoons left standing and let loose. A Kelhoon reeled back as Rivkah poked a crater in its skull, then shifted her sights to the other Kelhoon.

  She pulled the trigger.

  Click.

  She pulled again.

  Click. Click. Click.

  “No!”

  The Kelhoon lowered his gun at Rivkah and shot.

  Rivkah spun. Rocks splintered from the bolt’s impact and pelted Rivkah’s side and back.

  She moved to her feet and ran behind a boulder, pressing her back against the rock.

  Her breath came heavy and she put her hand on her chest, telling herself to calm. She gazed at the ground all around, waiting for a shadow to loom, telling her how close the Kelhoon was and from which direction he was coming.

  Silence filled the air.

  Where was everyone? Did they get Fox?

  Fox guffawed, letting out an exasperated breath. “They don’t even try to hide it anymore.”

  “What?” Rivkah moved around the rock, eying all the fallen Kelhoon soldiers. Fox ended the last one.

  She made her way toward the dead bodies. “What do you mean?” She stood over a purple, puss-filled mess surrounding a Zompawan, its silver body lay lifeless, its green horse-like hair covered in its blood, and its shallow, thin eyes wide open, dead as a doornail.

  “That Zompawan. I noticed that the last time the Kelhoons used them when we tried to take over Taiyo. The Zompawans didn’t want to live as Kelhoon slaves anymore. They were practically giving themselves away, shapeshifting into whatever, whenever the Kelhoon used them, and purposely using the wrong vocal resonance. It was almost like they wanted to die.”

  Rivkah nudged its leg with her foot. “Or set the Kelhoon up to lose. This one, though, was good. It looked just like Bogle when it shapeshifted, except with an old woman’s voice. Too bad it couldn’t stay shapeshifted so we don’t have to see its ugly face.”

  “Yep, damn ugly.”

  Zzzzzzzziph-kacha!

  An energetic dome materialized around them. Fox and Rivkah stepped back and went into a defensive stance, their weapons up in anticipation.

  “Looks like we were the dumb ones,” said Rivkah.

  Up ahead, past the energy surrounding them, were several Kelhoon approaching. The largest of them, the obvious leader, put his arm up. The rest of the Kelhoons drew their weapons and went to one knee.

  The leader licked his lips. “Kja Oovgov!”

  13

  Edge of M-Quadrant, Nearing Jupiter - Starship Atlantis

  “I’d do anything for Jaxx,” said Shaughnessy. “He told you that if Slade betrayed us, and according to you Slade has...” Shaughnessy looked at the Senator for a moment, seeing if Ken was telling the truth. “Then Jaxx wants us to reroute the entire Secret Space Program and this starship back to Earth?”

  “Yes, Jaxx and I spoke before he escaped.” Ken was lying, that much Shaughnessy could tell. There was the lack of eye contact, the pupils dilating, his blinking when speaking. But what if he wasn’t lying, what if Jaxx really said this to Ken? Jaxx was his friend, pretty much his only friend. He’d give his left kidney without hesitation if the guy needed it.

  “We want to reroute this starship to Earth. But send SSP’s fleet to Uranus,” said Ken. “However, we don’t know how to do it, how to hack into the SSP system, but we think you do.”

  “Who is we?” Shaughnessy had a healthy distrust of all politicians. They only had to open their mouths to lie. He and Jaxx were agreed on that point.

  Ken sat at his desk, hands folded in his lap. He swiped his finger over his desk and a holographic screen popped up. “Me and the rest of the government officials on Starship Atlantis.”

  This was a little too much. He spent years on this mission to Callisto. He wasn’t going to divert the entire mission just because some Senator—namely Ken Furr—was getting homesick. Again, maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was telling the truth. “I need proof that Slade betrayed us.”

  “I suspected as much.” Ken typed something on his holographic display console and motioned for Shaughnessy to take a look. “This is a recording of Kajka Okbak, the Kelhoon leader, and Slade.”

  Shaughnessy almost fell over, pointing at the screen. Shock rocked his system. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. “What is that?”

  “It’s an extraterrestrial. A race known as the Kelhoon. If you ask me anything more about them, I won’t know.” Shaughnessy turned the volume up. “Listen.”

  The screen shifted to Okbak. He sat straighter, and for an instant his head and thick neck moved back and forth like a snake. “Koojka navonja sinlanja.”

  The camera switched to Slade. “You get the envoy here soon, and I’ll make sure it passes our security. It’ll arrive safely in one of Starship Atlantis’s lower decks. Eventually, your boys can feast on some of our people here, but the rest of the troops, scientists, and politicians are going to your factory farms.”

  Okbak hissed. “Jonjookana foonjayjay.”

  Slade raised his chin, shaking his head. “The envoy will be safe. I assure you.” He gave a chuckle. “For a dominant galactic race hell bent on herding my race for food and slavery, you’re sure paranoid about the little things.”

  “Moonkaja.” Okbak bowed his head and the screen went black. The holographic screen quickly evaporated.

  “I don’t understand what I just saw there. That’s a damn alien Being.” Shaughnessy’s mouth was agape. “I knew they existed, but I haven’t seen one.”

  “I had the same reaction. But that’s not what’s important here. What’s your answer? Will you help us?”

  Shaughnessy paused. “What is in the envoy the Kelhoon are sending?”

  Ken lifted his shoulders and dropped them. “I wish I knew. We intercepted this a week ago from an encrypted source. We decoded it an hour ago. Our decision on what to do next was quick. That decision involved you.”

  Shaughnessy didn’t want to do this. It pitted him against Slade and in the real world, the world he lived in, that was never a good matchup. Pit him against Slade in the computer game League of Champions and he’d wipe Slade clean off the map in ten minutes.

  This wasn’t League of Champions.

&n
bsp; Ken stood, hand extended, his heavy wrinkles creasing his care-worn face. “What do you say? Can you hack into this ship and the Secret Space Program’s fleet?”

  Shaughnessy huffed. “I don’t want to do this, but if he’s about to screw us all over and if this was truly Jaxx’s wishes, then I must. I can change SSP’s flight plan and lock it, and I can change ours and lock it, so no one with basic computer knowledge would ever see what I’d done.” He grabbed Ken’s hand and shook it.

  Ken cleared his throat just as Shaughnessy was walking to the door. “You’re doing a great service to your country.”

  Shaughnessy nodded, not able to count how many times he’d heard such nonsense before. “I’ll do my best, Senator.”

  14

  Leonia, Canis Major - Galactic Arm, Milky Way Galaxy

  Everything was in slow motion. The Agadon mech’s cannon barrel turned a molten red. The muzzle sucked in a few feet, then pushed out as a blast spiraled through the tube and exited the tip.

  Jaxx raised his mech’s arm to block it, only to hit the Agadon mech’s leg, halting Jaxx’s arm from moving any further.

  A red, fiery streak shot down toward his cockpit and Jaxx let go of his control stick and put his hands up to shield his eyes from the inevitable.

  A bright light enveloped his cockpit accompanied with a bwooooom!

  Chunks of metal fell against the cockpit window.

  And silence.

  He touched his body, patting his face, his chest, his legs. Was he alive?

  Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a spinning Leonian starfighter, the back portion of its fuselage, rudder, and vertical stabilizers in flames, torn apart after absorbing the Agadon mech’s shot, essentially saving Jaxx’s life. It took a hard dip and plummeted into a wheat field. A ball of fire rose from the ground.

  Jaxx launched several missiles at the Agadon mech’s crotch. Several hit on target, crumbling pieces of armor, hip stabilizer joints, and connecting rods onto his mech’s chest. For a moment, he took his eyes off the steaming, twisted pile of metal standing above him, but only long enough to grab his sword and swing it at the mech’s shin. Screeching metal against metal vibrated through his cockpit along with a resounding clap as Jaxx severed the mech’s lower leg.