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Close Proximity - An Aeon14 Space Opera Adventure (Perilous Alliance)
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CLOSE PROXIMITY
PERILOUS ALLIANCE – BOOK 1
CHRIS J. PIKE
M. D. COOPER
Copyright © 2017 Chris J. Pike & M. D. Cooper
Aeon 14 is Copyright © 2017 M. D. Cooper
All rights reserved.
Cover Art by Laércio Messias
Editing by Amy DuBoff
FOREWORD
Since the very beginning of my journey with the Aeon 14 novels, Chris has been my earliest beta reader who sees the books before editors or anyone else.
Chris has been instrumental in shaping the world and characters of Aeon 14, and now has finally stepped in to write his own tale here in the ‘verse.
We chatted for some time about which time period would be right for Chris, and we settled on the years after Destiny Lost and the Battle of Bollam’s World.
Both of us really like the area of space around the Silstrand Alliance, and we wondered what would have happened to the nanotech that Tanis sold S&H Defensive Armaments, and how were things faring in the pirate-ridden, coreward edge of the Silstrand Alliance.
Well, now you’re about to find out in this exciting new adventure that follows Kylie Rhoads and the crew of the Dauntless in this, part of the expanding scope of the Orion War.
Sincerely, M. D. Cooper
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DERELICT
GOING IN HOT
BOARDED
CAPTIVE
GENERAL SAMUEL
GET IN LINE
CREWMEMBER
A HOMEMADE DINNER
JERICHO
A NIGHT ON THE TOWN
THE SHADE
MAVERICK
ON THE RUN
DOUBLE DOUBLE-CROSS
VENTRELLA
LIFTOFF
RENDEZVOUS
A NEW PLAN
HEAVEN
COMING AROUND
DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
INTEL
LANA
PERSEVERANCE
HEAD OF THE SNAKE
A LITTLE FUN ON THE SIDE
RESCUE
BACKUP
KEEP MOVING
SHOWDOWN
GETTING OUT OF DODGE
CAPTAIN ON DECK
ANOTHER DOUBLE-CROSS
OVERWATCH
ESCAPE
THE GENERAL’S DAUGHTER
GRAPPLED
LOYALTY
REPEL BOARDERS
LAYING LOW
EPILOGUE: THE HAND
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
THE WORLD OF AEON 14
For the seasoned science fiction reader, there will be little here which they have not seen in another story be it space elevators, nano technology, AI, or mind-to-mind communication.
However, for those who may not know what a HUD is, understand the properties of deuterium, or be able to name the stars within the Sirius system, I encourage you to visit www.aeon14.com to read the primer, glossary, and timelines.
To get the latest news and access to free novellas and short stories, sign up on the Aeon 14 mailing list: www.aeon14.com/signup.
DERELICT
STELLAR DATE: 08.21.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Salvage ship Dauntless – Beyond Gedri’s Heliopause
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
“We found her, Captain, and she’s a beauty,” Jim Rogers called out over the Dauntless’s audible address system.
Kylie Rhoads wanted to see the ship for herself; with any luck, this salvage would bring their next big payday. “I’ll be right there,” Kylie replied as she jogged down the long corridor from the galley and up the sloping ramp onto the bridge of her ship.
The Dauntless was a PetSil Scrapper hull with an unconventional configuration—courtesy of past owners. The main upgrade was the large, spherical bridge at the fore of the ship, providing an unobstructed view of space and their salvage. Suspended in the center of the sphere, three meters off the ground, was Rogers in the pilot’s seat.
He was working the ship’s four grappling arms, as he spun and manipulated them, his seat moved too. Currently, he hung upside down while they approached their target, readying the arms to grapple the ship they had found.
“Howdy, capt’n.” He waved awkwardly.
“The distress call?” Kylie asked.
“Was coming from her all right,” Nadine, her communications and weapons officer, replied from her console on the bridge’s deck. “It’s been on repeat, and it’s led us straight to her. She’s a good-looking haul, isn’t she?”
“Yeah and with all its core functions offline. Something took her out; she’s cold as they come, Captain,” Rogers said.
“Send a hail to be sure. Let’s see if anyone answers.” Kylie crossed her arms and hoped to God no one did. Legally or otherwise, they couldn’t salvage a vessel with people onboard, and they could use a new good haul to appease their boss.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Maneuver on grav-drive only. If there’s anyone on that ship, we don’t want to spook them.” Kylie leaned forward and gripped the railing at the fore of the bridge, staring through the plas at the view. The ship really was magnificent. Kylie couldn’t believe their luck. The kind of payday a ship like that would bring? Man, they couldn’t have bought this kind of luck.
It was a bit strange to find it this far out—well beyond Gedri’s heliopause—but pirates and smugglers often did deals on the fringe of the system. Those dealings often went bad, and she got the leavings.
The derelict was a Hedland 17-7 freighter, bulky instead of sleek, and designed to carry cargo, not human beings. All things being equal, Kylie would rather deal with stuff than people.
Rogers was more than capable at his job, but still, Kylie bent over a console to review the scan. The readings on the abandoned freighter confirmed that everything onboard was as quiet as a mouse. Life support was shut down, or malfunctioning, and the engines were offline. The hull had some light damage from whatever scuffle it had found itself in, but nothing they couldn’t patch up. If not for the cold engines, it was space worthy and ready to fly.
Something had disabled this ship, all right. Now it was adrift in space and ripe for the taking.
“Name?” Kylie asked.
“The Titan-1,” Nadine piped up from the communication’s station she ran. “Big name for a freighter, even one of this size.”
“It’s probably making up for something,” Rogers scrolled through his holodisplay. “Serial number matches a ship that does runs for the Black Crow.”
Kylie sighed. It figured—the Black Crow was a nasty group of pirates, and all things being equal, Kylie would rather not run up against them. Even for pirates, their reputation was barbaric; they didn’t deserve the ships they flew.
Kylie bet that the Titan-1 got caught with their pants down and was taken out by the GFF—the Gedri Freedom Federation wasn’t happy unless they had their piece of the pie. And the Black Crow was all about hogging the pie for themselves, which meant they often found themselves at odds with the GFF when they jumped through the Gedri system.
The Dauntless didn’t have a license for this type of work outside Gedri’s heliopause. Which meant that they weren’t supposed to salvage whole hulls, but what the Silstrand Alliance—the ruling government—didn’t know, couldn’t hurt them. A haul like this meant more money in their pockets and more food in their bellies. Also meant they could be choosier about what jobs they took for the GFF.
“Tap into their system and download their manifest. I want to make sure
we know what we’re looking for when we board.” The rest could end up scrap metal, but as long as Kylie was paid for the job, she didn’t much care.
Adding a bit of illegal wares to their coffers was always a good thing. Freight was freight, and as far as Kylie was concerned, if it was adrift at the core-ward edge of Gedri, it was fair game.
Whatever happened to Titan-1 was the risk every freighter captain took getting this far into the fringe—the empty expanse between Gedri and the Scipio Federation—where the government was too far away to help.
Behind Kylie, Nadine spoke, “Close enough to send a hail…if you find it necessary, Captain.” With genetically enhanced curves, azure hair, and piercing blue eyes, Nadine was the type of woman Kylie didn’t mind being stuck in space with.
“It’s always necessary. We won’t be caught with our hand in the cookie jar while I’m in charge.”
Nadine sighed and pulled up the holo system. “Yes, ma’am.”
“What the hell is a cookie jar?” Rogers asked, and Kylie silenced him with a look. Her ‘quaint’ upbringing from technophobe parents often got a rise out of the crew.
“Most cookies come in those nice sealed packages,” Roger muttered.
Nadine sent the message across the void in a narrow ship-to-ship transmission.
Nadine threw a glance at Kylie. Her super-slick hair glimmered and changed color as light raced across each individual strand. “Message will repeat three more times, Captain.”
Kylie crossed her arms and leaned over Nadine’s display. “No heat signatures or movement?”
“None yet,” Nadine confirmed. “If there are people aboard that freighter, they have an advanced way of masking it.”
It made Kylie feel better, but she wouldn’t completely relax until she had swept the decks of the Titan-1 herself. “Hold down the fort here. Rogers, standard ship-to-ship docking procedures, and send me that manifesto as soon as you have it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rogers spun in his seat to access the docking display. “I love it when she talks to me that way.”
Nadine smirked at him. “You love it when she talks to you at all.”
Kylie shook her head at the constant ribbing between those two. Like brother and sister, they sure could get into it, but it was kind-spirited—most of the time.
She left the spherical bridge for the long corridor that connected to the rest of the ship. She passed by the crew quarters that were positioned beneath the grappling arms, and Kylie turned past them. The corridor stretched down to the cargo area and engine room, but she took a left before going that far, headed for the starboard airlock
His gruff voice laughed across the Link,
That she did.
* * * * *
Kylie met Winter at the weapon lock-up right outside the airlock. She grabbed a pulse rifle, a standard helmet, and a heavy environmental suit in case things got dicey.
As she shimmied into her snug EVA suit, she glanced at Winter, who was checking his suit’s seals. He was a big guy with pure white hair that had earned him his nickname. His eyes were a pale pink, yet no one dared make fun of him because his bulging muscles weren’t just for show. Nadine might have liked shimmering hair, but Winter loved muscles. It was almost an addiction.
“You get any bigger and that helmet isn’t going to fit around your neck anymore.”
Winter’s grin stretched ear-to-ear, and his white teeth gleamed behind his helmet’s visor. “That’s why you keep me around.”
Wasn’t much point in arguing with that; Winter’s muscles had gotten her out of a lot of scrapes. He outfitted himself with a pulse rifle and some sonic grenades while she strapped a pulse-pistol to her thigh. A metallic clang let Kylie know that the umbilical had finished connecting to the freighter, and she sent up a communication to the bridge.
Kylie didn’t think she’d need luck, but in her experience, a little bit never hurt.
GOING IN HOT
STELLAR DATE: 08.21.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Derelict ship Titan-1 – Beyond Gedri’s Heliopause
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
Kylie and Winter stepped aboard the freighter. The Titan-1 was pitch-black inside, even the emergency lighting was off. Kylie switched on her helmet’s IR/UV cameras and a holo-image of the corridor came into view. It was long, with passages branching off, leading to various storage compartments.
Ahead, the overhead lights suddenly began to blink on and off as the ship detected them and tried to offer a warmer welcome. After a valiant attempt, the lighting failed once more and they relied on their helmets’ enhanced optics.
Kylie was grateful, as well. Especially with how people usually messed themselves before they died. Nothing worse than cleaning all that off an EVA suit after scouting a ship.
As they moved into the corridor, she picked up a weak wireless signal and Linked with the ship to access the logs. There was no mention of a battle. As far as Kylie could tell, it hadn’t been boarded. She Linked the ship’s net to a buffered portion of the Dauntless’s and pinged Rogers to let him know he could tap in and find the manifest.
They reached an intersection with a passageway that ran fore and aft. Kylie signaled for Winter to go left while she went right—toward the bridge.
With each step, Kylie’s magnetic boots brought her further down into the dark, quiet hall. Her breathing sounded loud in the helmet’s confines. She was peering around a corner, surveying an adjoining passageway, when her comm lit up with a transmission from Rogers.
Rogers flashed his good-looking, spiced-up avatar at her and he kissed his bulging biceps. If Kylie hadn’t been on a wrecked ship floating through space with no life support and no interior lighting, she might have smiled.
Kylie quickly scanned the contents and saw the usual list of items her crew wouldn’t mind—fresh food and medicine, even a few crates of liquor. That always made for a great party in the dark, but it was the high-end gear Kylie was excited to get her hands on—some upgrades for her ship and weapons for the crew. Plus a few tech items she had no need for, but could sell at Laerdo Station, or maybe hold onto them until the next time they got to the Coburn Station auction house in Trio—they’d fetch some good coin there.
It was about time they had a couple nights off on some exotic luxury planet doing nothing
but lounge in the sun, and get fed grapes by handsome men—or some beautiful woman. Kylie wouldn’t have minded either.
Kylie pulled her head out of the clouds and sent a message to Winter.
Rogers avatar winked.
Winner take all. Life wasn’t much fun unless she was burning the candle at both ends. What Maverick didn’t know couldn’t hurt the crew of the Dauntless.
Kylie hit a dead-end and had to backtrack to get to the bridge. Taking another passageway, she spotted Winter bent over a terminal. His brow was furrowed, and he was reading something only visible on his HUD.
Odd, Kylie hadn’t found any evidence someone had boarded the Titan-1, invited or otherwise. Kylie accepted the data transfer and looked over the logs. As far as she could tell, it was a garbled transmission sent in distress. She slapped Winter on the shoulder and pointed down the corridor.
Maybe not, but Kylie wouldn’t put her crew in danger, and so far there didn’t appear to be any significant danger here.