Galaxia Read online

  GALAXIA

  — Second Edition —

  Limited Edition Box Set

  Michael Anderle | Oscar Andrews | Jonathan P. Brazee | J.N. Chaney | Ell Leigh Clarke | M. D. Cooper | A.K. DuBoff | Mark Leslie | Kevin McLaughlin | Sarah Noffke | Dean Wesley Smith

  Galaxia: SECOND EDITION

  Copyright © 2020

  Their Solitary Way Text Copyright © 2016 J.N. Chaney

  Troubled Space: Brewing Trouble Text Copyright © 2017 A.K. DuBoff

  Xenovirus Text Copyright © 2016 Kevin McLaughlin

  “When the Strong Fall” © 2019 Sarah Noffke

  Looping © 2019 Ell Leigh Clarke

  “To Fly Sabrina” Text Copyright © 2019 M. D. Cooper

  Making of a Renegade Text Copyright © 2019 Oscar Andrews

  “Grace Under Pressure” Copyright © 2019 Mark Leslie Lefebvre

  Rebel Text Copyright © 2015 Jonathan P. Brazee

  “Rescue Two” Text Copyright © 2019 Dean Wesley Smith

  The Death League Text Copyright © 2020 Michael Anderle

  Cover Design by A.K. DuBoff

  All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the authors, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles, reviews or promotions.

  The stories contained in this compilation are works of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.

  Kindle Edition

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  THEIR SOLITARY WAY by J.N. Chaney

  Carrying ten thousand cryogenically frozen colonists, Captain Adam Cadman and his crew must seek out new worlds for potential habitation. With the help of Lilith, a shipboard cyberbrain, Adam and his team will stop at nothing to secure humanity’s future. But time is running out. The Eden is breaking down, and accidents are beginning to occur at an alarming rate.

  TROUBLED SPACE: BREWING TROUBLE by A.K. DuBoff

  Aspiring smuggler Jack Tressler is conscripted into a pirate gang to assist with an ill-planned heist of an experimental energy core. With rabid pirates, ruthless corporations, and a scorned former employer all vying for the same bounty, Jack and his new friends will need all their wits and snark to survive until their next meal in this farcical space opera adventure.

  XENOVIRUS by Kevin McLaughlin

  A deadly virus has gone global on Earth. Doctors are falling ill and dying as they race against time to develop a vaccine. To keep them safe, a select few are sent to the only place completely safe from the infection: the tiny lunar colony. But desperate people do dangerous things, and there are billions of desperate people back on Earth…

  WHEN THE STRONG FALL: A SHORT STORY by Sarah Noffke

  The Lucidite Insitute secretly controls the world affairs, intervening in deadly situation before they escalate. They are the reason the world hasn’t turned to chaos. But what happens when a dark evil seeks to destroy this place that protects the planet? Technology and advanced systems can only help so much. Sooner or later when the strongest fall, inevitable chaos ensues. Can the Lucidites recover in time to protect the world they value so much?

  LOOPING by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Another day in space takes a turn for the bizarre when Bentley finds herself responsible for saving her oblivious crew. Her only ally? The person she can rely on least...

  TO FLY SABRINA: AN AEON 14 SHORT STORY by M. D. Cooper

  Cheeky would do anything to be back at the helm of a starship plying the deep black. She’s all but given up hope when a position comes up on the boards. A shady ship with a shady captain. What’s a girl got to lose?

  MAKING OF A RENEGADE by Oscar Andrews

  When his father is taken by the Federation, Jack’s life is set on a collision course with danger and betrayal: his very physiology being the reason he becomes coveted for military research. Military research that is set to kill him... If Jack is going to survive to grow up and become the ingenious covert negotiator he is destined to be, he’s going to have to think fast.

  GRACE UNDER PRESSURE: A SHORT STORY by Mark Leslie

  This wasn’t just a killer interview, it was an interview that would kill. Bronson Grace has only his quick wit and academy training to outwit and outlast the other candidates in a divisive society where good people do horrible things, and it’s hard to tell if the bad people are living in the Deadzone, or perhaps they’re the ones in charge.

  REBEL by Jonathan Brazee

  First Families’ Michiko MacCailín joins the resistance to overthrow the very system that gave her such a life of priviledge. But powerful people resist changes in the status quo, and they have powperful friends in high places. Early gains by the resistance are thrown into disarray upon the arrival of the United Federation Marines.

  RESCUE TWO: A SEEDERS UNIVERSE SHORT STORY by Dean Wesley Smith

  Searching for a lost Seeder Mother Ship with over a million people on board might be an impossible task under normal circumstances, but the Mother Ship went missing over three million years earlier.

  THE DEATH LEAGUE by Michael Anderle & David John William

  Laura, the unconventional scientist, and Jan, the base commander, have to overcome their immediate dislike for each other if they’re going to unravel the Zoo’s secrets, and stop it spreading before the danger reaches the only partially complete wall. If they can’t, their lives, and the whole of humanity, are over.

  THEIR SOLITARY WAY

  by J.N. Chaney

  Our salvation lies before us. We need only reach out and take it.

  Adam Kadman is the captain of a seed ship known as the Eden.

  Carrying ten thousand cryogenically frozen colonists, he and his crew must seek out new worlds for potential habitation. With the help of Lilith, a shipboard cyberbrain, Adam and his team will stop at nothing to secure humanity’s future.

  But time is running out.

  The Eden is breaking down, and accidents are beginning to occur at an alarming rate.

  At first, Adam believes these to be mere coincidences, but when a massive explosion kills several dozen people, he puts Seth, the lead Security officer and Adam’s own son, in charge of an investigation to uncover the truth, but with so little evidence to go on, how can they hope to succeed?

  The clock is ticking…

  J. N. Chaney

  Copyrighted Material

  Copyright © 2016 by Variant Publications

  Book design and layout copyright © 2016 by Variant Publications

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Jeff Chaney or Variant Publications.

  www.jnchaney.com

  1st Edition

  For James,

  Who continues to believe

  I’m better at this than I really am.

  * * *

  Some natural tears they dropp'd, but wip'd them soon;

  The world was all before them, where to choose

  Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:

  They hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow

  T
hrough Eden took their solitary way.

  -John Milton, Paradise Lost

  * * *

  To The High Council Of Fiore

  My Dear Councilors,

  The enemy is at our gates, preparing to destroy what little remains of The Empire.

  The Ministry of War speaks of a turning tide, but I see on each of your faces the same grim understanding: the war we have waged for two generations is over and we have lost.

  Soon everything our species has built, everything we have achieved, will be buried beneath the ash of our bones with only ghosts to mourn our passing.

  But this doesn’t have to be. We can still save our future. The billions that have died to give us just one more year will have done more than delayed the inevitable. Our species may yet live, but to do so, we must accept the hard reality of our fate.

  We must dare to do one simple thing.

  Councilors, we must surrender Fiore. We must abandon our world.

  Authorize my mission, and give me the resources needed to secure Humanity’s future. The Eden remains the fastest ship in the fleet, capable of carrying thousands across the galaxy to some far-flung world.

  Our salvation lies before us.

  We need only reach out and take it.

  - Adam Kadmon, Captain of the Eden

  Chapter 1

  “How long has it been now?” asked Adam. He tapped the control pad on his armchair, revealing a holographic display of the nearby star cluster.

  “Since we left Fiore?” asked Lilith. Her face appeared in the corner of the view-screen, auburn hair flowing down her shoulders. She stood before a glowing, white background. “Approximately six years, eight months, and three days…or would you like a more precise timeframe?”

  “I was only curious. More importantly, what’s with the hair? I thought you were going blonde.”

  “I was, but I thought I’d try something different. Don’t you like it? I can change it back if you don’t.” Her hair color suddenly phased to blonde. She grinned. “Better?”

  “Careful. You’ll make the other girls jealous. Not everyone can do that, you know.”

  “Being me has its advantages.” She ran a finger through her hair, changing the color back to red. “I think I’ll stick with this for now.”

  He chuckled. “What’s the ship’s status?”

  “Beautiful. Strong.” She stretched out her arms. “Healthy as the day I was born, thank you.” A moment later, the space behind her morphed into a lake. She stood on a long wooden dock, dressed in a fashionable two-piece bathing suit. Her ruby eyes sparkled in the artificial sunlight, and she smiled.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I hope this isn’t too distracting for you,” she said, twisting her hips.

  “Lilith…”

  She frowned. “Fine, but I’m keeping the beach.” She snapped her fingers, replacing the swimsuit with a standard military uniform. “Anyway, the ship is operating at 96.4% efficiency. A gradual decline from last week’s numbers, but hardly worthy of concern. We’ll be arriving at the next jump in approximately 89 minutes. As usual, I’ll handle the details.”

  “You’re the best.”

  “I’m a lot of things,” she said, lifting her chin. “Poet, artist, beauty queen, pilot. You name it.”

  “Don’t forget Delta Class Starship,” he said.

  “The least of my personas,” she said, fanning her hand dismissively. “But also true. You’d be lost without me. Literally.”

  “Don’t remind me,” said Adam. He’d known Lilith for years, even before she became the Eden’s cyberbrain. He still remembered seeing her in flight school. In those days, she was human—a little shy, but stubborn. The top of her graduating class. Years later, she was shot down while flying over Sheol. After several successful campaigns and a dozen commendations, her career came to an abrupt end. The attack left her severely injured, paralyzed from the neck down.

  Less than two years later, military intelligence approached her with an offer to join the CyberBrain Initiative. They promised her a ship of her own and a chance to get back in the field. She didn’t hesitate. When they asked which ship she wanted, she requested the Eden, captained by the recently promoted Adam Kadmon, her oldest friend.

  “Captain,” called a voice. It was Uriel. She stood at attention, holding a small data-pad in her left hand.

  “Something wrong, Lieutenant?” he asked.

  “Abel asked me to give this to you,” she said, lifting the pad.

  “Thank you. That’ll be all for now.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m heading to Security for my shift.” She snapped to attention again, and proceeded to leave the bridge. Uriel had always been too formal, despite Adam’s protests. She was an officer in every sense of the word, bred from a family of soldiers. She could trace her lineage all the way back to the Seraphim Knights, one of the most esteemed units in military history.

  She was also Adam’s daughter-in-law.

  “What is it?” asked Lilith.

  Adam flinched at the sudden question.

  “What’s wrong? Forget I was here?”

  He smiled at her and turned the data-pad on. “Looks like a formal request,” he said. “Abel wants to take a scout ship when we arrive.”

  “Seems safe enough. Why send a pad, though? I can’t find anything wrong with the com.”

  “Maybe he didn’t want you to know about it,” said Adam, arching his brow.

  “If so, you just ruined it. Nice one.” She winked.

  “I’ll ask him about it later,” he said. His eyes wandered over to the door to the bridge, where Uriel had left. He paused for a few seconds and then turned back to Lilith’s monitor. “Say, can you send Uriel and Abel a note and tell them I’d like to have dinner this week?” He paused. “Actually, go ahead and invite the whole family.”

  “Feeling fatherly, are we?” she asked.

  “You know me,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  She smiled. “I certainly do.”

  * * *

  The walls of the ship stretched and howled, a sign that the Eden was coming out of warp.

  “That was quick,” said Seth, turning on his side in bed. His eyes met Azura’s. “I was hoping we still had a few hours.”

  She sighed, then kissed him on the nose. “Time to go. Don’t want to be late for your shift.”

  “I can deal with being late,” he said, burying his face in her neck.

  She giggled as he proceeded to attack her with a barrage of kisses, then pushed him back with her finger. “What if Uriel comes looking for you? We don’t want her seeing us together.”

  “She is inquisitive, that one.”

  “Comes with being a security officer, doesn’t it?”

  He raised his brow. “Between you and me, I’ve never been much of a problem solver.”

  “Oh, give yourself a little credit,” said Azura. “I’m sure if you tried, you could do basic math.”

  He smiled, and pretended to bite her nose.

  She laughed and pushed him away with her foot. “Better get going, Lieutenant.”

  He frowned. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Seth grabbed his shirt and got dressed. “See you soon,” he told her, lingering at the door.

  “I’ll follow you shortly,” she said.

  “Just don’t let anyone see you leaving the room.”

  “Relax. This isn’t my first time, you know.”

  He grinned. “Until later.”

  “See you tonight, handsome.”

  Seth headed into the corridor, letting the door shut behind him. He wished he could walk with her, open and unfiltered, in front of everyone. This will have to do for now, he thought. The rest will come in time.

  A few minutes after he arrived, Azura would join him on the bridge. Their secret would last another day, and that was good. Not because he liked it—not because he was embarrassed—but for his father’s sake.

  He and Azura’s fathers had been friends ever since their time i
n the academy. They remained friends for nearly twenty years, despite the distance and hardship that came with interstellar war. During the campaign, Azura’s father had died suddenly, but not because of the enemy. No, his own body had killed him.

  As Azura put it, he was never the kind of man to get himself checked out. Not often enough, anyway. So when his leg started hurting, he simply dealt with it on his own. Plenty of soldiers experienced joint problems after twenty years of military service. He never expected an aneurysm to come from it. He died in under two minutes.

  Seth’s father was devastated, and vowed to look after Azura. He treated her like she was his own daughter.

  The adoption was fast, probably because of the man signing the papers, or maybe it was the fact a war going on and a lot of children kept getting orphaned. Regardless, Seth and Azura became siblings. They were both sixteen at the time.

  “Morning sir,” said Michael. He was getting off the lift. “Going to the bridge?”

  “Yeah,” said Seth. “You?”

  “My shift ended so I’m going to bed.” Michael was usually on maintenance, but not today. The ship only had two security officers—Seth and Uriel. In case of emergency, having a few extra workers could come in handy. Most other departments operated under the same guidelines. Protocol required every active duty crew member to train in a secondary job class.

  Several dozen people from across the ship applied to train in security, but only a few actually qualified. Since Uriel handled testing and recruiting, Seth rarely had the chance to talk with the applicants. Michael was a rare exception.