Miner War

Book 3: Phaethon Corp.

by Jaxon Reed

Genres: Space Marines; Sci-fi Action & Adventure; Space Opera

Synopsis

Bo Duckworth and his ragtag team of surplus Marines have served Phaethon Corp. well so far. Unfortunately, the frontier is even more unsettled than usual. The mining corporations are at each others throats, on the brink of war.

Ironically, this is good for business. The more shots fired and the more energy used, the more that Phaethon's services will be needed.

Unfortunately, the middle of a shooting war is the least safe environment for Phaethon employees to work. But woe be to the forces taking on Tom Savage's people. They are heavily protected from harm. The Duck and his team will see to that.


Jump into Phaethon Corp's efforts to expand in the wild frontiers of known space! This fast-paced action-packed series by veteran science fiction and fantasy author, two time Kindle Scout winner Jaxon Reed, is a thrill ride you won't want to miss!

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Release date: December 25, 2025

Publisher: Independently Published

Print pages: 160

Sample

1 Bo Duckworth approached the mouth of the cave leading to Level 288, one above where his team first came in so many hours ago. He stopped at the edge and gazed down into the dimly lit shaft, the bottom cloaked in utter darkness. Looking up, he could see a faint glow of fluorescent paint high above him. Way at the top, he could make out a distant pinprick, which he knew to be the fading light of Suomi’s sun outside the protective transparent dome covering Comstock Crater. He turned as others in his team walked up behind him. Estelle Garcia looped her arm through his and peeked out at the dim patterns far above. She said, “It’s a long way up, isn’t it?” “Yeah. Too far to climb.” A huge mass lumbered up as Tobias McMillan’s enormous body filled most of the cave. On his back, he carried a solar containment cube the team had been searching for and had found deep in the caverns. Stenciled letters on the side read, “SCU Demo Unit, Phaethon Corp.” Tobias said, “See those ropes? I climbed up here from 289. Yeah, that was a pain. I can’t imagine going the rest of the way up like that.” Bo turned and glanced down at the sound of a tiny metal clink when Tobias stepped on something. The washer-sized portable sensor he had tossed into the mouth of the cave earlier glinted back at him. “Hm. I wonder if Lisa can help.” He touched the implant under his ear. “Lisa? Can you hear me?” “I can indeed, Bo. You are coming in loud and clear.” Bo smiled at Elle, who also heard the AI speaking in her implant. He said, “Tell the boss we found his missing toy. But we’re in a bit of a pickle. I wonder if you could teleport us out of here?” “My calibrations on this planet are not yet complete. I am afraid the teleportation of organic matter is highly unsafe right now, especially on a sensor chain like this one. You would stand a higher than acceptable probability of partially materializing inside solid rock.” “Oh.” He could not hide the disappointment in his voice. “When do you think your calibrations will be complete?” “To successfully work through 288 linked sensors? Slightly less than 36 hours.” “Three days?” Tobias said. Bo realized Lisa had included him in the conversation, too. “I don’t wanna stay down here that long, Duck.” “I don’t either, big guy.” “Can’t we just use that floating platform to go back up?” Elle said. “We already prepaid the fare.” Bo edged closer to the mouth and looked up again, searching the darkness overhead. “It seems like that would be our fastest way out, provided that guy ever comes back down this low again. Right now, I don’t even see him up there.” “Yeah, we should be seeing a big circle of light,” Elle said, joining him once again at the ledge. “But I don’t see anything.” Ace Gesig walked up, his pockets bulging and a big smile on his face. “Those guys were loaded. I searched every corpse, and Mike helped out a lot. One guy had almost a 

thousand credits in his pockets. He won’t need ’em where we sent him.” Bo said, “Good. We’ll split it up after we get out of here.” The smile vanished from Ace’s face. Bo noticed. He said, “Look, it’s not finders keepers, Ace. We’re on a team. You can hold onto the tokens for now, though. Try not to get killed, or Mike will have to loot your body for a change.” “You sure know how to take the fun out of this, mate,” Ace said. But he mumbled it quietly to himself rather than saying it to Bo’s face. A fifth person emerged from the gloom, this one far older than everyone else. Marshal Miller Metger approached with an expression as dark as the cave on his face. “Your Mr. Mike robot . . . uh, collection of bots, whatever . . . has been a big help. My guy is for sure nowhere amongst the dead. I wonder if we were fed bad information?” Bo shrugged and said, “Maybe your suspect didn’t stick around with the Grave Diggers, Marshal. Maybe he went off with some other group. He’s likely still down here somewhere. It’s a big shaft with over 250 levels above us that we haven’t even looked at.” “You’re probably right. It’s gonna be a pain findin’ him, though. Maybe we can ask that ferry driver when he picks us up. Speakin’ of which, where is that boy? It’s time to go.” As if in response to his question, they heard faint gunfire out in the shaft. All four stretched out carefully from the cave’s edge and looked up. High above, the pinprick of light at the top showed streaks of color. The sound of distant blaster fire drifted down to them. “There’s a gun battle goin’ on up top, Duck.” “I can see that, Toby. That might explain why the ferry hasn’t come back down.” They watched and listened carefully as the battle raged high above. Then they heard a scream. Ace said, “What’s that?” More screams joined the first one. Gradually, but steadily, they grew louder. The first man flailed past them, careening off the side of the shaft. He looked bloody and bruised in the dim light as he quickly dropped below their level, heading for the floor far below. The screams grew louder. More bodies fell past their cave entrance. “It’s raining men,” Elle said. They watched as a dozen more plummeted to the bottom of the giant shaft, screaming all the way. ...