Chapter 1: End of Shore Leave
“Come on guys, we just got here. Do we really have to leave?” Mattias asked as he
handed the volleyball to an employee.
“Yes, we very much do have to leave,” Justin countered while making his way to a
dropship.
Lance looked back at his sniper; hope fueled him for the first time in years. He shrugged,
unable to contain his joy and excitement.
“I’m sorry, I really am, but Lincoln’s alive and we have to go find him.”
Lance turned and jogged toward the ever-filling dropship.
“Who’s Lincoln?” Mattias shouted after him.
“His older brother, labeled KIA in the Reeve Wars,” Dexter replied, bringing up the rear.
“Oh...” Mattias paused.
“Yep, now I bet you feel like a jerk, don’t you?” the giant teased.
“A little bit.”
Lance climbed into the craft and took his place in the cockpit. Running a quick weapons
check, he peeked out the window to see the last of his crew board. Justin clambered into the
cockpit and stood next to the pilot.
“Can I help you?” the pilot asked, receiving a cold stare down from Justin.
“Yes, you’re in my seat,” Justin replied.
“I’m the dropship pilot; this is my seat.”
“And I’m the better pilot, which actually makes it mine. Get up!”
“May as well do it,” Lance chimed in.
“What about assignment of roles and staying at one’s station?” the pilot asked, looking
back at Lance. “That protocol is drilled into us.”
“It may be, but take into consideration that he won’t move until you let him fly, and if
he’s not buckled in, we can’t take off,” Lance countered. “If you give it to him, we can be
underway, and you can have your ship back.”
The pilot huffed, unbuckled himself, and moved to the navigation seat before re-buckling
himself in.
“One of these days, I’m going to fly the Gladius,” the pilot muttered.
“What’s your name, kid?” Justin asked as he climbed into the pilot seat and strapped in.
“I’m older than you!” the pilot countered.
“Didn’t answer my question, old sport.”
“Is this guy for real?” the pilot asked, turning toward Lance.
“You get used to it,” the captain replied.
“Really?”
“No.” Lance chuckled. “You just learn to ignore it after a while.”
“I’m right here!” Justin announced as the engines roared to life. “And you still haven’t
answered my question.”
“My name’s Scott,” the pilot replied. “Why do you want to know?”
“Well, Scott, sometimes you just have to learn that surrendering control is the best way to
get the job done,” Justin said as they lifted off the ground. “Now, can you put that navigational
scanner to one hundred percent? I want to make sure we don’t have anyone untoward inbound
while we head toward the Gladius.”
“Fine,” Scott said as he fiddled with the navigational systems.
They turned toward the sky, soaring for the clouds.
“Scott, I asked if you could turn that scanner all the way up,” Justin said as he glanced
toward Lance and winked.
“I did!” Scott snapped with a shake of his head.
“I think there might be some ‘lost in translation’ issues going on,” Lance said as he
leaned as far as his harness would let him. “He’s wanting you to give it a little more.”
“I can’t give it a little more!” Scott countered, showing the scanner at one hundred
percent.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lance saw Justin spinning a finger, urging him to continue.
With a huff, the SOAT shook his head and pointed at the screen.
“See here, Scotty, I really think you can give it a little bit more.”
“I’m giving it all she’s got, captain!” Scott snapped.
“There it is!” Justin declared with a laugh.
Scott’s expression soured as he threw a judgmental look at Lance and shook his head.
“I’m mostly sorry about that.” Lance chuckled. “He just wanted to see if you’d say it.”
“Do I even need to have the scanner on?” Scott asked.
“No, the Gladius has a much wider range than this thing does,” Justin chimed back in.
“She’ll let us know if anything’s inbound.”
Scott shut the scanner off.
“I hate you both so much,” he said as he cracked a smile.
“At least you’re a good sport about it,” Lance added as the blue sky above them turned
black, dotted with stars.
Breaking free of Earth’s pull, the ship’s artificial gravity took over. They shot past the
United Hemisphere Space Station, more of a token from a bygone era since the POS overtook
space research.
Justin flew them straight to the Gladius, which drifted peacefully in the void. As they
entered the ship, there was hardly a rattle from them connecting with the docking clamps.
“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you dock a ship,” Justin said as he shut off the
craft and slid out of his chair.
“I literally could’ve done that exact same thing,” Scott huffed as Justin strolled by him.
Lance unstrapped himself, got up, and walked over to the dropship’s pilot.
“I’m really sorry about that. Once Justin gets going on something, it’s literally impossible
to stop him.”
“I’m going to take over his cockpit one day and see how he likes it.”
“If that’s the case, I’d practice on the flight simulator so you can get used to the controls
before you do.”
“Yes, sir,” Scott replied as he unstrapped himself.
Lance gave the pilot a pat on the shoulder as he made his way to the exit of their ship. He
stepped out with the rest of the crew before taking the elevator to his cabin. The hiss of his
shower filled his quarters. As he entered his bathroom, he saw Valdivia sitting on the floor with
water running over her armor.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a laugh.
“So much sand,” she replied.
A river of sand did flow off her and down the drain.
“That’s what happens when you roll around on the beach... How are you feeling?” he
asked as he sat on the ground next to the shower.
“I’m sobering up,” she replied as he rubbed her helmet. “A little bit of a headache is
coming on, though.”
“Well, we’ll get you some water, I’ll turn down the lights in my cabin, and you can get
some rest.”
“That would be nice, thank you.” She nodded.
“Captain, I’m getting an inbound transmission from the Alcazar. Do you want me to
patch it through to your cabin?” Justin asked over the ship’s intercom.
Lance looked down at his flip-flop, swim trunk, and tank top outfit, and shook his head.
“Absolutely not; put it through to the communication center and tell them I’ll be right
down.”
“Copy that, sending now,” Justin replied before cutting off the radio.
“Will you be okay?” Lance asked. Valdivia nodded as she waved for him to go.
Needing to shower the salt off himself before putting on his armor, the SOAT got up and
put on his uniform. Grabbing his multi-tool, he slid it onto his forearm. Before he left, Lance
went back into the bathroom, grabbed a cup from under the sink, filled it with water, and placed
it on his nightstand.
Returning to the elevator, he descended to the bridge, where he made his way to the
communication center. A small blue circle blinked on the console. When he pressed it, a
hologram of the Alcazar flickered to life before him. They were huddled together whispering.
Lance stood in front of them for several moments before clearing his throat. Doing so
drew their attention to him. They quickly disbursed and took their positions at each of their
respective podiums.
“You wanted to speak with me?”
“Yes, thank you for reporting back so quickly,” Darla said as she straightened out her
robe.
“We’ve read your report, assessed the situation, and have deployed anti-AI
countermeasures to the Reeve station,” the Adarran explained.
“Shouldn’t we give them a chance to negotiate before destroying them?” Lance asked,
tilting his head to the side.
“They will be given the opportunity to join the other Reeve factions in AI space,” the
Jarog chimed in. “If they don’t, then we’ll be forced to destroy them.”
“That attempt would be ill-advised,” Lance countered. “These ones felt different. More
advanced, somehow, they didn’t have biocide, but the size of their ship and what they’re using to
fuel it is beyond anything I’ve seen. Trust me, you send those AI hunters after them and, best-
case scenario, they all get shut down; worst case, they get hacked and now the Reeve have your
fleet under their control.”
“Their AI was more advanced than the Reeve’s,” Andrew chimed in, raising his hand
slightly. “I’ve seen their data, watched the simulation encounters based on the data you helped
gather during the AI War, and I have to disagree with you. They’ll be able to handle anything
built by human hands.”
Lance scoffed and shook his head.
“I disagree... you didn’t see the station they built. It was magnificent, terrifying,
something humans couldn’t have come up with,” Lance countered. “They’ve evolved. We need
to find a different way to handle that particular faction because violence is not the answer.”
“All due respect, Lance, you’re not as familiar with artificial intelligence as we are,” the
Jarog chimed in.
“How many AI have you encountered?” Lance asked, looking at the council member.
The Jarog fell silent. He shrugged slightly but didn’t reply.
“Have any of you seen them in action firsthand, or is your knowledge strictly based on
what you’ve read?” he asked.
They all remained silent.
“I have. They completely obliterated an entire Veles fleet, and I’m telling you, if you go
against them head-on, there is no chance of beating them,” Lance warned.
“Then how would you suggest we approach this issue?” Andrew asked.
“The Veles got their hands on someone who knows the location of a device known as the
conduit,” Lance said. “Give me permission to go after them, retrieve that contact, and get the
conduit ourselves. From there, we can use the conduit against the Reeves and minimize
casualties and collateral damage.”
Lance flicked his thumbs. He held his breath at the suggestion, praying that they’d go for
his mission so that he had an excuse to go after his brother on orders. Darla looked down and
shook her head. She let out a sigh that brimmed with disappointment.
“We know the Veles prisoner is your brother,” she revealed before looking back to
Lance. “Sending you after him is a conflict of interest.”
“I have lobbied to have a SOAT team sent in pursuit to retrieve Lincoln and pursue the
conduit lead,” Andrew added.
“But a human being taken by a known problematic human faction away from a human-
created artificial intelligence is not a SOAT problem,” the Adarran cut in, her tone stern. “Your
Space Force has been given permission to pursue, but the Alcazar will not interfere in human
problems.”
Disbelief encompassed Lance, followed by anger. He clenched his fists so tightly, they
hurt as a fire lit within his gut. Taking slow, deep breaths, the captain refrained from shouting at
the Alcazar member. Instead, he pointed at Andrew.
“A member of your own council is human.” He pointed to himself. “As is a SOAT. When
the Alcazar was attacked, it was the best of humanity that came to the aid of your people and that
set up an organization specifically designed to bring aid to anyone who needed it, not just
Alcazar races.”
Lance took a half step toward the hologram. His restraint slipped, revealing a fraction of
the anger that raged within.
“Should I even bring up that we led the charge in turning the Reeve invasion away?” he
snapped. “If humanity decided to take that same kind of stance, you’d be buried under the rubble
of your ivory tower instead of standing on it, looking down at the rest of us!”
“LANCE WARDER, THAT’S ENOUGH!” Darla roared, interrupting him. “I will not
have you defy the orders of this council. You are our right hand; you’re part of humanity’s spear
no longer!”
Lance stepped back. He clenched his jaw tightly as he stood in defiance of the Alcazar.
Silence permeated the room for several moments as they stared down one another.
“Perhaps we should find another operative for this mission and ground the crew of the
Gladius until further notice,” the Jarog muttered.
“I strongly disagree,” Andrew cut in. “While this display may be unprofessional, Lance
and his crew are the best resource we have. His reputation as a negotiator is spreading across the
galaxy. No other SOATs have that notoriety. He’s our best shot.”
Lance looked at the human council member to his left, on the outer edge of the Alcazar.
He gave the SOAT a wink with his away eye.
“So be it,” Darla huffed. “There are systems threatening war against the Alcazar for
allowing humanity a seat on the council and such a prominent position in galactic society. Old
alliances have now become fragile and threaten to shatter at the slightest misstep. We will send
you a dossier of the leaders threatening war, and we’ll set up meetings with them. Your job is to
negotiate, show them humanity is more than just a bunch of rabid dogs that need to be put
down... Do you think you can keep your temper in check long enough to prevent all-out civil
war?”
Lance bit the inside of his cheek. Her condescending tone egged him on to come back
with some sarcastic remark. Biting the inside of his cheek, he nodded in agreement.
“Yes, ma’am,” he muttered after several moments of silence.
“Good, then consult your multi-tool. You should be receiving those documents shortly,”
Darla replied.
She shut off the channel. Lance shook his head before turning and leaving for his
command center. As he stepped on it and the galaxy map flickered to life, the Alcazar message
had come through.
It was a list of five star systems. Each held a sphere of influence over dozens more with
trillions of lives under each of their influence. Shaking his head in disgust, he fought the urge to
call his father.
A rendezvous point was assigned for them to pick up a ‘package’ before continuing their
mission. Lance relayed the rendezvous point to the cockpit. A small ping marked with an
encryption signature flickered over one of the further planets. The captain reached out and
touched it. A letter flickered to life over the system.
‘I’m sorry about earlier. We all should be working together for the greater good, not
squabbling amongst ourselves. If I may suggest, even though this world is the furthest from your
starting point, that you begin here. I think there will be some interesting and useful information
in this system for you.
-Andrew Carnegie XII’ ...
We hope you are enjoying the book so far. To continue reading...
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved
Please log in to recommend or discuss...
