Edge of the Vortex Read online

  Varus hadn’t seen his family in ages, and a recent request to travel back to the Pohjois had been rejected by Sajoba. After that Varus had started getting off the Lone Hunter as much as possible. He found an excuse to visit all the other ships in the system. It allowed him the chance to get away from Sajoba, and to meet the crews of the rest of the fleet. He was flattered to hear that he still had some silent supporters among the other ship commanders.

  At the same time, Varus was looking for options to get himself out of his current predicament, and back to his old post on Ravulo. Matters were not made better when he received a report that the base on Marxis Minor had been hit. There were scores dead, including Imperator Casix, and it would take a few days to find a replacement. Varus was surprised he was not considered for the promotion himself, but he hoped that the individual promoted or installed in the position would come to their senses about the arrangement that was currently in place in the Sol System.

  While Varus had some faith that the right decisions would eventually be made, he concluded that in order to guarantee his safety he needed to take precautions. After one of his tours of the fleet, he returned to the command ship and quickly made his way to his quarters and placed a call to an old contact of his who was assigned to fleet logistics back on Qera. They had known each other for decades and Flo might have been one of the very few people that Varus could rely on completely.

  “Flo.” Varus smiled at the image of his old friend. “How are you?”

  Flo returned the smile and shook his head. “Fighting a losing cause.”

  Varus tilted his head to the side. “Really?”

  “Of course. The coffers aren’t as rich as they used to be.” Flo looked away from the screen for a moment, then back to Varus. “Where are you contacting me from? Beyond the Reach?”

  “I am.”

  “So. Business.” Flo scratched the side of his face.

  “I might need some protection.” Varus said.

  Flo nodded. “What about your ships security detail?”

  Varus shook his head. “I’d prefer something from the outside.”

  “A Sentinel?”

  “Too big.”

  “A light Sentinel?”

  “Too conspicuous. I need something that is covert.”

  “Against what threat level?” Flo asked.

  “Organic troops. If I need protection from Sentinel’s, I’m dead anyway.” Varus replied.

  “Okay.” Flo leaned back in his chair and sat in silence for a few moments. “I could send you a Black Team.”

  “A what?” Varus had never heard the expression before.

  “Ultra-lightweight droids. Maybe half a meter tall, wire-thin. Come with a short-range blaster.” Flo replied.

  “Are they effective?” Varus asked.

  “There are four in a team. If something happens, they’ll buy you enough time to make it to a shuttle or something.” Flo leaned in towards the screen. “They will not stand-up against a combat droid, and they will not be able to take on a well-trained infantry detachment.”

  “When can you get them to me?”

  “A few days. I need to upload mission parameters, and package them.” Flo raised his hand in anticipation of a protest. “Don’t worry, what I send you will be very discrete.”

  “Thank you.” Varus said. He ended the conversation after a few minutes of miscellaneous chat. It was nice to catch-up with an old friend.

  On the bridge of the Lone Hunter, Sajoba had been growing ever more excited about how things were shaping up for him. With the death of Casix, he had, for the moment, no direct master, and was free to do whatever he pleased with the planet and the system. He had already been asked about more deliveries of slaves and was expecting several experts to visit the system to run checks on all the initial estimates of mineral and other resources that could be harvested.

  Things were finally coming around for him, and at present, there was nothing that was going to threaten that. Thoughts occasionally wandered to the complete removal of Varus from his post as his second in command, or perhaps, an even more permanent solution. Things hadn’t come to that just yet, but he was ready to act at a moments notice if the need arose. Now it was just a question of what he wanted to do with the blue world that was floating below him. He had given consideration of sampling the more carnal abilities of the inhabitants, but not acted on them. Now, when nothing was happening, might be the time for that course of action, regardless of the calls for a cease-fire.

  59

  Traxis

  26 April

  When Joe finally laid his eyes on Rhea after all those months, his skin tingled, and he smiled as hard as he ever remembered. He was waiting for her when she made it to the station accompanied by Royal Inspector Wey, Estiva Roper Daz and Ship Master Ranix, but Joe had ignored everyone else, and made a beeline straight for Rhea and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “Miss me?” She asked, planting a long kiss on Joe’s lips.

  “Can’t you tell?” He asked. “Come on.” He grabbed her by the hand and started leading her away from the party she had arrived with.

  “Taking me somewhere?”

  “That I am.” He replied.

  Joe had already practised the route from the hangar-bay several times to optimise his timings. He knew where to turn and which lifts were likely to be least used so that he could cover the floors to his quarters as fast as possible once Rhea on the large station in orbit over Traxis.

  “And I was starting to think that you’d found yourself a new friend.” Rhea said, wrapping her right arm around Joe’s waist.

  Joe smiled and looked at Rhea. “Are you referring to Val-Lar?”

  “Is that what her name is?” Rhea asked, turning her eyes away from Joe’s. “She is beautiful.”

  Joe let out a laugh. “You saw her once, in the background on a video-conference. How are you possibly jealous?”

  “We’re odd creatures, Colonel.”

  “Well don’t worry your head. You’re the only girl in the entire solar system for me.” He leaned over and kissed Rhea on the side of her forehead. “Don’t you know I want to dance by the water underneath the Mexican sky?”

  Rhea’s eyes darted to meet Joe’s. “Where did you hear that line?”

  Joe pursed his lips. “It’s from a song.”

  Rhea smiled and gave Joe a kiss. “Never heard of it.”

  After a few more minutes going up a few levels, and taking a few more turns, the duo stopped at a plain looking grey door, where Joe produced a key-card from his trouser pocket. “Ready to have your world rocked?”

  Rhea smiled. “About time.”

  Joe was laying on his back in bed while Rhea was standing a few feet away, drinking from a juice bottle, her perfectly formed naked figure barely visible in the low light.

  “What are you thinking about?” He asked, rolling onto his side to face her.

  Rhea dropped the bottle down to her side and looked at Joe. “Hard to say. I don’t feel like we’ve accomplished much, Wey, Daz and I.”

  Joe propped himself up on one elbow. “I thought you were onto something.”

  “We are, just nothing that substantial. We need to get to Mechcharga and get to the bottom of things.”

  Joe rolled onto his back. “Things seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment. With the Princess dead, and the Grand Marshall in charge, maybe the war will come to an end soon.”

  Rhea moved over to the bed and sat down. “But you’re worried that any change of things will spell doom for Earth?”

  Joe took in a deep breath and let it out. “I can’t be sure, but from my experience, no one ever gives something up before a negotiation.”

  “That’s the rush?” She asked, running her hand through Joe’s hair.

  “All I know is what I read from the raid Major Tattersall did. Things sound bad, and like they’re about to get a whole lot worse.”

  Rhea leaned down and kissed Joe on the forehead. “What ti
me is the meeting?”

  “About another hour.” He said.

  Rhea smiled. “Plenty of time.”

  Sarah Chan and Jose Berenguer had been bored out of their minds ever since the Epsilon had fled Earth. Once they were back in Alliance territory, Colonel Hunt and Doctor Stokes had sidelined them on Traxis, where they had remained ever since. Sarah tried to make a documentary about life in the Alliance fleet but found it too depressing, and after months, Jose had taken up a local gambling game, and become quite the local kingpin.

  Being the only humans on the station, the inevitable happened, they had sex. She was a lot older than he was, but he didn’t seem to mind. He was under orders not to attempt any carnal experiments with the locals, and when someone becomes the only game in town, they are the game.

  The endless boredom affected Sarah more. She withdrew into herself and barely went out. They had been offered excursion options down to the planet’s surface, but after a certain point, she found herself in a constant state of self-medicated intoxication. So, when the Admiral returned with the Seven after an unexplained absence along with Joe Hunt and Rhea Stokes, Sarah finally snapped back into action along with Jose and started filming again.

  But what really set Sarah Chan on a path to film direction greatness was the arrival of the Terran Strike Group. Fully certified by Dynamic Operations for ‘Clandestine, reconnaissance, assault and combat operations’, it was going to make the greatest story of her career. Earth, liberated by humans. Sitting in a room with Joe, Rhea, Admiral Taark, Kol Fine, Royal Inspector Wey, Estiva Daz and Ship Master Ranix plus Commodore Smid filled her soul with the promise of what could be the greatest story in human history.

  The communications specialist looked over to Admiral Taark and nodded his head. “Your conference call with Sector Prefect Dinalis, Lord Soturi and Doctor Beck on Terra are ready, Sir.”

  Taark thanked, then excused the junior communications officer, then looked around the room. Everyone was present. “Colonel Hunt, it’s your world, it’s your conference.”

  Joe leaned forward and smiled. “Thank you, Sir.”

  All the usual suspects were present. Rhea, Ranix, Admiral Taark, Master Grade Kol Fine, Major Mike Tattersall, who had received treatment from a medical psychic aboard the station after his psychic attack, Commodore Smid, Estiva Controller Roper Daz and Royal Inspector Wey. They were all sat around the large circular table with him along with Sarah Chan and Jose Berenguer filming everything.

  Looking down at the rather dull two-dimensional images that were on the table, Joe started the meeting. “I first want to start this meeting with some news. Thanks to a raid carried out by the Terran Strike Group under the command of Major Tattersall and Kol Fine, we now know why the Coalition attacked, then occupied Earth.” There was a pause while he quickly looked at the faces around the table. “During the Coalition reconnaissance mission on Earth in early December, they found a mineral in the jungles of Myanmar that they believe can be used as a fuel and maybe a weapons source that could change the balance of the war.”

  “But now that the Grand Marshall has requested a line of dialogue with the Coalition, that reason may become a mute-point.” Taark added.

  “So why the rush to recapture Terra?” Roper Daz asked.

  “Because the intelligence we recovered suggested that Earth was going to be harvested before any cease-fire or peace accord is struck.” Replied Mike Tattersall.

  “What do you mean?” Keegan Beck asked, his voice coming through slightly distorted, which wasn’t bad considering the eleven-hundred light-year distance back to Earth.

  Mike looked at Joe, then over to Keegan’s image. “The Coalition is going to strip every resource off the planet they can, including its population.”

  Keegan shook his head and looked at Joe. “Is he serious?”

  Joe nodded. “The Major is right. The intel suggests that they are planning to take people off the planet to use as slave labour.”

  “Fuck.” Keegan whispered under his breath.

  Joe clasped his hands to his front. “That means we have limited time to act. Even if peace is achieved, Earth might remain in the hands of the Coalition, and they could continue to strip it bare. So, we need to act now.” He looked at the image of Lord Soturi and Sector Prefect Dinalis. “What is the status of the PCS?”

  Dinalis fielded the question. “Ready for operations, but as you know, we do not pack much of a punch.”

  Joe nodded. “That may be true, but Lord Soturi does.”

  “I am willing to do whatever it will take to free this planet from the Coalition” Soturi said.

  “When the attack commences, do whatever you can to disrupt the Coalition forces in the system, in whatever capacity that is.”

  “It will be done.” Soturi said.

  “Thank you, Doctor Beck, how is Kansas?”

  An image of Keegan’s face was projected onto the table. “Boring.”

  Joe smiled. “Fair enough. General Wilkinson, how are things moving, Sir?”

  The commander of the First Infantry Division cleared his throat. “Good, Colonel. I have a green-light from Washington to assist in any way required.”

  “Excellent, Sir. How long do you need before you can launch an attack?”

  “I have two tank battalions prepping now. They’ll be ready in two weeks.”

  “Thank you, Sir.” Joe looked over to Admiral Taark. “Sir, how do we look on this end?”

  “We have two fleet command ships the Five and the Seven available, plus the Commodore’s command ship and the Epsilon ready to deploy on short notice.”

  Joe nodded. “Thank you, Sir.” He looked around at the faces present, then down at the ones displayed on the table. “We all know there is a lot to risk with this operation. The Coalition holds Earth and the system. The planet is shielded in an impenetrable force shield, and on top of that, we are not authorised to launch any offensive operations by order of the Grand Marshall, who, as some of you know, is now calling the shots inside the Etelainen. But if we delay this any longer, who knows what will happen to our home.”

  Joe looked at Rhea. “Anything to add, Doctor?”

  Rhea pursed her lips and looked around the room. “Right now, this is the right move to make.” She shook her head. “Whatever is going on here in the Etelainen with the characters we’ve been trying to track down can wait. Like Colonel Hunt said, every moment we leave the people of Earth under the yolk of the Coalition, the more damage will be done. Acting now is the only sensible option.” She looked at Joe and then reached over under the table and squeezed his thigh.

  Joe smiled, and then looked over to Kol Fine. “If everyone here is ready to proceed, then all we need is the go-ahead from Fort Riley.”

  “Fourteen days.” The general said.

  Joe smiled. “Then it’s settled, unless there are new developments, we strike in fourteen days.”

  “Here, here!” Mike Tattersall blurted out.

  That drew a laugh, then a quick cheer from the humans that were in attendance on Traxis and Earth.

  “But what are we going to call this sucker?” Joe asked, looking around the table with a grin on his face. “Every mission needs a code name.

  “How about Operation Han Gruber?” Rhea suggested.

  “Who is Hans Gruber?” Asked the Englishman, Major Tattersall.

  “It’s from a childhood film.” She replied with a smile. “We’re going to steal back the Earth.”

  Joe looked over at his girlfriend and nodded, then looked around the table, his eyes stopping on the head of the Terran Strike Group. “It doesn’t really matter what it means, Major. It sounds cool.” Joe scanned the rest of the faces around the table, there seemed to be unanimous support for the suggestion. “Operation Hans Gruber it is.” He said with a boyish smile on his face.

  60

  Constellation of Sagittarius

  1 May

  50,000 light years away near the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy was a mass
ive Dyson Sphere that looked dead to any observer. There was no space traffic near the incredibly massive structure that surrounded a White Dwarf star. The structure which had a surface area 550 million times that of Earth was the last bastion of the once mighty Zorosian Empire that had once stretched across tens of thousands of light-years, but over time, had been reduced from not dozens of Dyson Spheres and trillions of citizens to a single sphere without a single physical being present.

  The Zorosian’s were responsible for creating an untold number of species that had spawned from primordial goo into spacefaring races. At the height of their powers they had visited and ruled a territory of over 30,000 light years, nearly one-third of the entire Galaxy, but for the last 10,000 years, the species had lived as a dying empire. And what had once been healthy and vibrant for millennia, started to vanish from existence in centuries.

  The Dyson Sphere around the White Dwarf was not the last sphere built by the Zorosian Empire, but it was the last to have its population transition from mortal creatures of flesh and bone to a purely digital form. It allowed the Zorosian to become immortal, but somewhere along the way, things started to go wrong. One after another, the Dyson Sphere’s began to go off-line. Every digital soul was gone. Unable to transfer out, or leave in one of the hundreds of spacecraft that each sphere held, they were just erased from existence. Some of the oldest to undergo the procedure of digitalisation were thousands of years old, and they vanished first.

  But once the first Zorosian went digital, the species population did only one thing, drop. There was no need to procreate in a digital world. No attempts were made to create digital offspring. Because of this, progress stuttered. They were the masters of all they surveyed, but at one point, ambivalence set in, and the species went into a period of decline.

  The machines and computers that maintained the massive Dyson Spheres knew things were falling apart, and when the last transmission arrived informing them that they were all that was left of the species, decisions were made. The choice to remain in the digital world was one that needed to be reversed. There was push-back from some. Perhaps it was just their time to die, but others could not accept that fate. A solution needed to be found, and the only one that presented itself was to revert to their physical beings.