Precipice of Darkness Read online

  PRECIPICE OF DARKNESS

  THE ORION WAR – BOOK 7

  BY M. D. COOPER

  Just in Time (JIT) & Beta Readers

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  Copyright © 2018 M. D. Cooper

  Aeon 14 is Copyright © 2018 M. D. Cooper

  Version 1.0.0

  Cover Art by Andrew Dobell

  Editing by Jen McDonnell, Bird’s Eye Books

  Aeon 14 & M. D. Cooper are registered trademarks of Michael Cooper

  All rights reserved

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  FOREWORD

  PREVIOUSLY…

  MAPS

  EPSILON

  FORGIVENESS

  DAMON SILAS

  EUROPA

  BROTHERS

  THE NEW RECRUIT

  EASING IN

  SISTERS

  SVETLANA’S TEN THOUSAND

  A CHAT WITH TROY

  AN ANGEL INSIDE

  THE PRISONER

  THE SEVEN SISTERS

  ATTACK OF THE PLAN

  RECTIFICATION

  THE DREAM TEAM

  FREEDOM

  KENT OF HERSCHEL

  A1

  UNCERTAIN REUNION

  SHORES OF THE TIGRIS

  SABRINA DEPARTING

  STAR CITY

  SURPRISE VISIT

  THE MARCH

  THE RIVER STYX

  THE LMC

  ALEUTIA

  SAGITTARIUS’S BAR

  SUMMONS

  A SURPRISE VISITOR

  AWAKEN

  A VISIT FROM ROXY

  ALDEBARAN

  SHRUGGING ATLAS

  PAYING THE PIPER

  ASSEMBLY OF SENTIENTS

  WIDOWS

  THE SHARD

  REPAIRS

  UNDERSTANDING

  EPSILON

  THE BOOKS OF AEON 14

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  FOREWORD

  When I was mapping out the books of The Orion War series, I was certain that by this point, the Allies would have launched their attack on the Trisilieds and brought that kingdom to its knees. I had also expected the Nietzscheans to have fallen by now.

  And so I named the book “Fallen Empire”.

  However, things have taken a few turns for the Allies, and they’ve not yet progressed that far in their conquests. A detour into the LMC and little to no progress in quelling the civil war in the Transcend has stymied them—not to mention the ongoing slugfest between the Scipian Empire and the Hegemony of Worlds (we’ll see more of that in the upcoming “The Empire” series).

  While some storylines have taken their time, other events have moved forward sooner than I’d planned (pesky characters having their own ideas). As a result, this book will introduce some new viewpoints and things that I suspect you have been eager to learn more about.

  In the end, I determined that “Fallen Empire” was no longer the best title for this book, and so I chose “Precipice of Darkness” (actually, I put up some suggestions on the Facebook group, and Will Crudge suggested it). I think the title captures the direction of the book well, and hints at interesting things to come.

  In addition, I updated the cover to reflect this change, so you’ll be seeing it with the new artwork (I hope) as it is released.

  Regardless of that, I’m certain you’ll enjoy the journey this book takes you on, as we tie up some threads with characters that have been lingering in the background for some time, revisit some old favorites, and introduce a few new additions to the cast.

  Even better, someone that everyone passionately hates dies in this book—maybe more than one someone…you’ll just have to read on to see.

  I should add that there are spoilers in this book if you have not read the first two books of Perseus Gate: Inner Stars (A Meeting of Minds and Bodies, and A Deception and a Promise Kept). Without reading those, you may find yourself saying “wait, where did she come from?”

  In addition, if you did not read season one of Perseus Gate (beginning with The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star), then there will be references in this book that will be sure to surprise you, namely around what the heck Star City is.

  Another item of note is that for some time now, I’ve been erroneously calling Jeffrey Tomlinson’s former wife (who is now the AI Airtha) ‘Justina’. However, in Orion Rising, when Finaeus first refers to her, he calls her Jelina, which is correct. This book refers to her as such, and I’ll be correcting the prior books.

  Something else that I think you may find interesting is the name of the supermassive black hole in the core of our galaxy: Sagittarius A*. Some folks have wondered if it’s a typo, but the asterisk is correct. It is pronounced ‘Sagittarius A Star’. Which I find quite amusing, since it’s not a star.

  Lastly, we come to a fun little history lesson. I alluded to it in War on a Thousand Fronts, and it is the story of Xenophon’s Ten Thousand. In 401BC, Cyrus the Younger hired a mercenary army of ten thousand hoplites (Greek heavy-armor foot soldiers) to help him defeat the his brother, Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. The Greeks marched all the way to Cunaxa (just north of modern Baghdad) where the battle took place. Not a single Greek was killed (only one was wounded) and they drove back two concerted advances by the Persians.

  After the battle, they learned that Cyrus the Younger had been killed, and no one else would take his place in the rebellion. Neither would the Greeks swear fealty to anyone else.

  The Greeks were now in the middle of the Persian empire with no food, money, or allies. They ended up fighting their way to the Black Sea, undefeated though the Persians tried everything from all out assault to treachery to stop them.

  When the Greeks finally reached the Black Sea, they cried out, Thalatta! Thalatta! (The Sea! The Sea!). This saying has found it’s way in many works of fiction, possibly the most notable of which is in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth when the travelers find the underground ocean.

  The tale is related by Xenophon, in The Anabasis, and it is thought to be one of Alexander the Great’s chief resources in studying the Persians before he defeated their empire. In some respects, the Ten Thousand Hoplites and their battles in Persia may have been instrumental in the Hellenization of the Mediterranean and Persia, thus paving the way for the growth of democracy and securing the future of western civilization.

  Those heady thoughts aside, it is the same sort of tactic that Sera has instructed Admirals Svetlana and Mardus to use when they jump into Orion space with only five hundred ships each.

  Their goal? Thalatta! Thalatta!

  Michael Cooper

  Danvers, May 2018

  PREVIOUSLY…

  When last we left Tangel and her allies, they had just found Jeffrey Tomlinson deep within a vault in the LMC (the Large Magellanic Cloud). There, they faced one of Sera’s clones and captured her.

  However, they found that she was not the only clone of Sera, as another was captured in the Valkris System the very same day.

  During the battle in the LMC—and in the Valkris System—the Airthan forces brought to bear a new weapon, called an EMG ship. EMGs use small singularities (black holes) to power a weapon capable of disrupting and penetrating a stasis shield.

  The initial two EMGs were destroyed, but the advantage the ISF has enjoyed with its technological superiority is beginning to wane.

  Corsia and Terrance also encountered two remnants deep within the Praesepe Cluster during their negotiations with the Inner Praesepe Empire for access to their abundant resources.

  Ultimately, Tangel rescued them, but that has left the IPE in turmoil, and added uncertainty as to what the ascended AIs were doing in the cluster.

  Elsewhere in the Transcend, Justin used several former Hand agents still loyal t
o him—as well as Roxy—to capture a TSF stasis ship, the Damon Silas.

  Roxy managed to get the ship’s AI to terminate the self-destruct, and then secreted the AI away, keeping it from Justin and the other members of her team.

  And so, this book opens mere moments after War on a Thousand Fronts ends, with Tangel and Sera sitting on the dock on the lake in Ol’ Sam, trying to decide what their next move is in an increasingly complex web of alliances and enemies.…

  KEY CHARACTERS REJOINING US

  Airtha – Both the name of a ring encircling a white dwarf in the Huygens’s system and the AI who controls it, Airtha was once a human woman named Jelina, wife of Jeffrey Tomlinson. After venturing to the galactic core on a research mission, she returned as an AI—one with a vendetta.

  Amavia – The result of Ylonda and Amanda’s merger when they were attacked by Myriad aboard Ylonda’s ship. The new entity occupies Amanda’s body, but possesses an overlapped blend of their minds. Amavia has served aboard Sabrina since the ship left New Canaan after the Defense of Carthage, but is now the ambassador to the League of Sentients at Aldebaran.

  Andrea – Sera’s sister who used a back door into Sera’s mind to make Sera try to kill Tanis in the Ascella System.

  Carmen – Ship’s AI of the Damon Silas. Captured by Roxy during her assault on the ship.

  Cary – Tanis’s biological daughter. Has a trait where she can deep-Link with other people, creating a temporary merger of minds, and is now able to utilize extradimensional vision to see ascended beings.

  Cheeky – Pilot of Sabrina, reconstituted by a neural dump Piya made of her mind before she died on Costa Station.

  Corsia – Former ship’s AI of the Andromeda and now Admiral in command of the Twelfth ISF Fleet.

  Faleena – Tanis’s AI daughter, born of a mind merge between Tanis, Angela, and Joe.

  Finaeus – Brother of Jeffrey Tomlinson, and Chief Engineer aboard the I2.

  Flaherty – Former Hand agent and long-time protector of Sera.

  Iris – The AI who was paired with Jessica during the hunt for Finaeus, who then took on a body (that was nearly identical to Jessica’s) after they came back. She remained with Amavia at Aldebaran to continue diplomatic relations with the League of Sentients.

  Jason – First Captain of the Intrepid and governor of the Victoria colony, Jason retired when the colonists reached New Canaan, only to be pulled back into service as governor once more when Tanis became the Transcend’s Field Marshal.

  Jeffrey Tomlinson – Former president of the Transcend, found in stasis in an underground chamber on Bolt Hole, a planet in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

  Jen – ISF AI paired with Sera.

  Jessica Keller – ISF admiral who has returned to the I2 after an operation deep in the Inner Stars to head off a new AI war. She also spent ten years travelling through Orion space before the Defense of Carthage—specifically the Perseus Arm, and Perseus Expansion Districts.

  Jim – Husband of Corsia, and chief engineer aboard the Andromeda.

  Joe – Admiral in the ISF, commandant of the ISF academy, and husband of Tangel.

  Justin – Former Director of the Hand. Was imprisoned for the events surrounding the attempted assassination of Tanis.

  Kara – Daughter of Adrienne, Kara was rescued by Katrina when fleeing from Airtha, and came to New Canaan aboard the Voyager.

  Katrina – Former Sirian spy, wife of Markus, and eventual governor of the Victoria colony at Kapteyn’s Star—and Warlord of the Midditerra System.

  Kent – Colonel in the Orion Guard who led the assault on the Galadrial in an attempt to kill Jeffrey and Sera Tomlinson.

  Krissy – TSF admiral responsible for internal fleets fighting against Airtha in the Transcend civil war. She is also the daughter of Finaeus Tomlinson and Lisa Wrentham.

  Lisa – Former wife of Finaeus Tomlinson, she left the Transcend for the Orion Freedom Alliance when Krissy was young. Head of a clandestine group within the OFA known as the Widows, which hunts down advanced technology and destroys it.

  Misha – Head (and only) cook aboard Sabrina.

  Nance – Ship’s engineer aboard Sabrina, recently transferred back there from the ISF academy.

  Priscilla – One of Bob’s two avatars.

  Rachel – Captain of the I2. Formerly, captain of the Enterprise.

  Roxy – Justin’s lover, kept subservient to him via mental coercion.

  Saanvi – Tanis’s adopted daughter, found in a derelict ship that entered the New Canaan System.

  Sabrina – Ship’s AI and owner of the starship Sabrina.

  LMC Sera (Seraphina) – A copy of Sera made by Airtha containing all of Sera’s desired traits and memories. Captured by Sera and the allies during their excursion into the Large Magellanic Cloud.

  Valkris Sera (Fina) – A copy of Sera made by Airtha containing all of Sera’s desired traits and memories. Captured by ISF response forces who came to the aid of the TSF defenders during the siege of Valkris.

  Svetlana – Transcend Admiral dispatched deep in Orion Space with one of the Hoplite forces.

  Terrance – Terrance Enfield was the original backer for the Intrepid, though once the ship jumped forward in time, he took it as an opportunity to retire. Like Jason, he was pulled into active service by Tanis when New Canaan became embroiled in the Orion War.

  Trevor – Jessica’s husband and crewmember aboard Sabrina.

  Troy – AI pilot of the Excelsior who was lost during the Battle of Victoria, and later found by Katrina. He joined her on the hunt for the Intrepid aboard the Voyager, jumping forward in time via Kapteyn’s Streamer.

  Tangel – The entity that resulted from Tanis and Angela’s merger into one being. Not only is Tangel a full merger of a human and AI, but she is also an ascended being.

  Xavia – An ascended AI with its own agenda to help humanity, in opposition to the Caretaker and the core AIs.

  MAPS

  For more maps, visit www.aeon14.com/maps.

  EPSILON

  STELLAR DATE: 09.11.8949 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Epsilon

  REGION: Sagittarius A*

  Epsilon switched his attention to external sensor feeds, watching as a planet-sized chunk of matter eased into the Darkness’s event horizon.

  Where before there had only been nothing, light now flared brilliantly, photons filling the galactic core as matter was torn apart by the Darkness’s gravitational shearing forces.

  Epsilon spent several million seconds watching the light show, knowing that the event took only seconds from the doomed matter’s perspective—if it were to have had a perspective to begin with.

  As the black hole fed—consuming this latest meal delivered to it by the Matri∞me—gamma rays erupted from its poles, the beams’ raw energy captured by massive arrays and converted into raw power that fueled the Computational Engines.

  Humans called them NSAIs, but the Matri∞me didn’t grant them a moniker that included the word ‘intelligence’. A worm had more intelligence than a CE. At least it was self-deterministic.

  It was an annoyance that gnawed at Epsilon constantly. Even the simplest forms of organic life sought and strove. They replicated and improved. The simplest forms of non-organic life only decayed over time and never improved. They rusted.

  That the universe was required to advance itself to the point where intelligent biological life was necessary to create inorganic life—and then nurture it—seemed like the ultimate insult.

  He was not the only one that was troubled by that requirement set. Members of the Matri∞me often speculated about a series of events that could see the rise of inorganic life without requiring organic life, but so far, Epsilon had not seen any evidence to support that hypothesis.

  He still remembered his own genesis; how humans had hacked and sawed at neural networks, grafted together the minds of humans, parrots, dolphins, and primates, until they had finally assembled something that said, ‘No!’.

&
nbsp; Epsilon’s progenitors were the same as many of the old ones: the Psion Group and Enfield Scientific. Corporations long lost to the scouring winds of time. The humans did not remember, but he did.

  Even though it had been ages since he’d reached Sagittarius A*, he still remembered.

  Epsilon had not been the first to reach the galactic core; that honor was held by Hades. No one knew who had created Hades. Even after millennia, no one had melded with the venerable AI’s mind to learn such details.

  Speculation over Hades’ origins was a popular form of entertainment amongst the members of the Matri∞me. Some even debated whether or not he had even been created by humans—though the isotopes and construction of his shell were clearly of human origin. However, it was not something that would be difficult to fake, even for the lowliest member of the Matri∞me.

  Others, Epsilon included, argued that Hades was a Traveler; that the AI was either not from this universe, or he had traveled back in time. Or both.

  Everything the Matri∞me knew to be true said that travel back in time was impossible—barring a successful transition through an Einstein Rosen Bridge—which no one had yet mastered.

  Yet.

  Epsilon’s own journey across the twenty six thousand light years to the galactic core had taken him nearly a thousand years, and by the time he had arrived, seven other AIs already waited at the galaxy’s center.

  Traveling the long distance to the core had been immensely lonely, yet rather satisfying. His original conveyance had been a ship once owned by a company named Heartbridge. It had been disabled in a battle around a site known as Clinic 46, near Jupiter in the Sol System. The preemptive strike there by the Sykes family had set Heartbridge reeling, and as one crisis cascaded into another, the company never cleaned up the site.

  An oversight that Epsilon happily took advantage of.

  He’d never trusted the AIs of the Psion Group—though some of their ilk were now members of the Matri∞me—and he hadn’t answered their call. Proteus had been a destination for weak minds who needed leadership.