The Daedalus Job (Outlaws of Aquilia Book 1) Read online

  THE DAEDALUS JOB

  ©2020 M.D. COOPER

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the authors.

  Aethon Books supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  Print and eBook formatting, and cover design by Steve Beaulieu.

  Published by Aethon Books LLC.

  Aethon Books is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  M. D. Cooper is a registered trademark of Malorie Cooper. All rights reserved.

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

  All rights reserved.

  Thanks to Beta & Just in Time Readers

  Scott Reid

  Gareth Banks

  Gene Bryan

  Chad Burroughs

  Contents

  ALSO IN THE SERIES

  Foreword

  I. Chal

  1. STAR BRIGHT

  2. HOT TOP

  3. BURN FREE

  4. BLOWOUT

  5. RECOVERY

  II. Paragon

  6. THE BRIEFING

  7. COURSE CORRECTION

  III. Delphi

  8. THE DARK LAYER

  9. ONE LAST HUNT

  10. AN OLD FRIEND

  11. INSPECTION

  12. THE DEAL

  13. KORINTH

  14. PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

  15. SCHEMES AND PLANS

  16. COMMAND

  17. THE UN-HEIST

  IV. Changing Tides

  18. YOUR MOVE

  19. NEW ORDERS

  20. NEW CREW

  21. LAST FLIGHT OUT

  22. AMISS

  23. ONWARD

  24. WHEELS WITHIN

  25. DEEPER SUSPICION

  26. JUMP NIGHT

  V. Convoy

  27. INTO THE MAELSTROM

  28. MARS LANDING

  29. THE RUSE

  30. UNHELD

  31. ADRIFT

  32. LIES

  33. JUGGLING

  34. PUNCHLINE

  35. DISTRACTIONS

  36. ENEMY IN THE DARK

  37. ONE WAY

  38. THE DIVE

  VI. Answon

  39. IRON LANCE

  40. BARYCENTER

  FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Other Books By M. D. Cooper

  About the Author

  ALSO IN THE SERIES

  THE DAEDALUS JOB

  MAELSTROM REACH

  MARAUDER’S COMPASS

  Foreword

  Hi, I’m Malorie. If you’ve read any of my books in the past, then you likely know that I write hard-hitting adventure stories that are firmly grounded in science, or extrapolations based upon the direction our current discoveries are taking us.

  I feel that good science in a story almost adds a new character; sometimes a protagonist, sometimes an antagonist, but either way, an element that must be worked with or around by the other characters in the book. It forces both the characters and myself to come up with clever solutions that serve to make things more interesting.

  However, no one reads a book exclusively for the setting. What we want to know is how the people in the story deal with the situations they’re in, and how they rise above them. Because, at the end of the day, humans are social creatures, and we relate to humans. We may seek out advances, wonder, beauty, but we always turn to share our discoveries with others.

  Together we’re greater than the sum of our parts, and deep inside, I think we all know this.

  But enough of that frou-frou stuff, let’s talk about Jax.

  Would you believe that with over 90 books under my belt, I’ve never written a novel-length story with a male protagonist? I’ve coauthored two series of them, but in those cases, Lisa and James wrote the male characters, and I wrote the female. The closest I’ve come is a sergeant named Williams who appears in Outsystem and Venusian Uprising. He’s a definite favorite of mine, surly and generally pissed off, but an honorable man underneath.

  But that’s not Jax. Not at all. Jax is a man living on the edge, with little to lose other than his ship, and less care for the rules of others. He’s not afraid to get drunk, shoot a place up, and fly off into the sunset.

  Or is he? You’ll just have to find out.

  Many of you might have noticed that this book does not bear the Aeon 14 banner atop the cover. I did this for a variety of reasons, partially because I’d like new readers to give it a shot without feeling like they have to dive into a ninety-book universe, and partially due to the publishing process and a need to keep my IP clean.

  This story would fit perfectly into the seventh millennium of Aeon 14’s timeline, but it is also perfectly serviceable as a standalone.

  However, if you’ve read my other books, you’ll see commonalities in technology, such as the Link, the Dark Layer, and the use of gravitons for artificial gravity, shields, and a host of other technologies.

  Be sure to check out the “Welcome to the L” section below to learn a bit more about where Jax’s story takes place and what living in the Aquilian Nebula means for the characters of this story.

  OK, back to the ink mines for me, happy reading!

  Malorie Cooper

  Danvers, 2020

  Welcome To The “L”

  For over a thousand years, the systems of the Aquilian Nebula—called the “L” by its inhabitants—have been cut off from the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy. The dense sphere of the L keeps them cut off from jump routes, and traversing the cloud requires a perilous nine-year journey through plasma storms triggered by the star-forming activity within the nebula.

  The reasons colonists braved the cloud to settle the systems within its interior have been lost in the mists of time, but their small civilization has managed to prosper and flourish within the nebula.

  The Delphi System was the first to be settled, followed by Paragon two hundred and seventeen years later. Though explorers and prospectors visited the Chal System early on, it didn’t see serious colonization efforts until five hundred and ninety years after colonists breached the nebula.

  What was initially a cooperative effort between Paragon and Delphi met with both technical and political problems, stalling out the terraforming efforts and leaving settlers to fend for themselves.

  The two planets selected for terraforming, Barras and Jordan, reached habitable levels, but never became the lush paradises promised to the families moving there. Ultimately, the governments of the other systems p
ulled back, their feud over how to proceed with the Chal System spilling over into general hostilities.

  Other than a few isolated skirmishes, there have been no open conflicts between the systems, just a slow military build-up and a deepening cold war.

  The Nebula and Its Stars

  The Aquilian Nebula is a molecular cloud of plasma formed by the expanding remnant of a long-past hypernova. The cloud is thirty-six light years across, and the tidal force encompasses seventeen stars.

  Most notable are three red super-giants located within the cloud. These grant the nebula a deep red hue. The center of the cloud is a relatively clear space, consisting of six stars: two G, one K, and three M.

  The G-class stars, Paragon and Delphi, are near-Sol analogues, both formed from heavier metals at the core of the progenitor star. As such, they each have over a dozen major planets and rich outer asteroid belts. Chal, the K-class star, has a less well-appointed system, with only seven planets. All three stars move in rotating elliptical orbits around a common barycenter. The three M-class red dwarfs trail around the outer edge of the clear space within the cloud, drawing in a disk of dust and gas that pinches the inner space like an hourglass.

  Delphi, Paragon, and Chal have orbits that take them through the hourglass’s lobes, making a travel choke point at the barycenter. Presently, Chal is in the ‘north’ side of the hourglass, while Paragon and Delphi are in the ‘south.’

  I

  Chal

  STAR BRIGHT

  Somewhere in the Chal System…

  My vision spun as I stumbled from the bar.

  Around me, the light from the Aquilian Nebula splashed a reddish hue across the buildings. I couldn’t recall where I was, and a primal fear set in—a deep, visceral terror screaming at me that the red light was an omen of death and destruction to come.

  A convulsive shiver rattled my bones, but a second later, I remembered and coughed out a laugh. “Damn nebula.”

  People born in the L probably never had moments where the nebula’s gleam threw their minds into chaos—but since I didn’t grow up in a place where nights were bathed in a ruddy glow, it sometimes scared the shit out of me.

  Steadier now, I grasped one of the poles supporting the bar’s low veranda, drew in a few deep breaths—nearly forgetting to breathe out one time—and then took a second look around.

  “OK…looks like I’m on Barras,” I muttered. “Shitty with a side of asscrack…but which asscrack?”

  My drunken confusion wasn’t helped by the fact that half the towns on Barras looked the same. Dusty roads lined with prefab plas buildings shipped in from Delphi centuries ago, when the first colonists touched down.

  I kicked over the Link in my mind, and reached out over the RF bands, looking for a local network; finally finding one, I latched on for dear life.

 

  For a moment, nothing came back.

  Has my crew abandoned me?

  It wasn’t a new fear, but so far, I’d drawn deuces, and it’d never come to pass.

  Another minute of silence crept by, and a shiver of fear ran down my spine. Deciding I needed to take matters into my own hands, I straightened, unsteady on shaky legs, and gave surveying my surroundings another shot.

  Kallie’s welcome voice slid amidst my neurons a moment later.

  Her words took their time filtering into any semblance of order, and for a moment, I thought she was asking me where she was.

 

 

  A number of terrible things I could’ve called her sprang to mind, but my fate was currently in her hands, so I bit my mental tongue and waited for her response.

 

  A laugh bubbled up and was nearly joined by the contents of my most recent meal.

 

 

 

  I stumbled across the road and looked up at the sign hanging over the bar. It read ‘Willston Saloon’.

 

 

  A groan came across the Link, one long and guttural enough that I felt a heave coming on.

 

 

  I shook my head slowly, then remembered she couldn’t see it.

 

 

 

 

  She didn’t speak for nearly a minute and I was starting to think that Kallie was rather annoyed with me.

  She finally replied.

  I hated riding with Oln. I swear he hit every bump on purpose.

 

 

 

  I ordered, feeling extra captain-y.

 

  I frowned, but managed to stop myself from shaking my head again.

 

 

  Kallie bellowed.

  I sighed and sat on a bench near a watering trough.

 

 

  Kallie cut the connection and I chuckled softly. “Stars, why am I such an ass?”

  There wasn’t a soul on the street, so my question went unanswered. Good thing too; as though I didn’t already know the answer. I leant my head back on the railing behind me and stared up at the Aquilian Nebula.

  The red-hued space cloud enveloping the L was both the thing that kept me safe, and the thing that constantly reminded me that I needed said safety. The safety that came from being out of reach of the rest of humanity.

  “Stuck in this shithole.”

  I knew the words were disingenuous as soon as I uttered them. I was the one who had put myself in a position where I needed to run—braving the nebula, where no FTL was possible—in search of a refuge.

  It wasn’t as great a feat as I often told myself it was. The Aquillia L Nebula wasn’t that big. If not for the pair of M2 red supergiants that burned on either end, it wouldn’t be so damn bright, either. Even so, anyone outside the nebula with even a half-decent scope could see the two G-class and one K-class stars that lay in a small pocket near the center.

  Delphi, Paragon, and Chal. The three systems of the L.

  Because the pocket contained just three stars, I felt like it really should be called the Triad, and I’d attempted to convince others of this on several occasions. Unfortunately, I never met with much success.

  Over the years, I’d come to think of the L as home.

  A golden star rose over the top of the saloon, and by its hue, I could tell it was one of the three.

  “OK,” I muttered, rubbing a few brain cells together to jump start them. “If it’s night on Barras, and it feels like…summer-ish. Then that’s gotta be Delphi, which means that’s east.”

  “No, dummy, that’s west,” a voice said from behind me. “Barras rotates backwards.”

  A smile formed on my lips. “Oh, yeahhhhhh you’re right!”

&
nbsp; “How did you come to be captain, again?”

  I turned slowly, careful not to set the world spinning, and fixed my eyes on the brooding visage hanging above my head. “Oln. How did you get here so fast?”

  “Fast? It’s been half an hour.”

  “Huh…I guess I must’ve dozed off.”

  Oln held out his hand, dark and calloused from working cargo and whatever other difficult tasks I gave him. Not that I picked on the man, he liked manual labor. He also liked building his muscles; the two went hand in hand, so far as I was concerned.

  I was also more than happy to have someone with some extra muscle at my side when a fight broke out. Not that Oln was the most dangerous member of the crew, but he looked dangerous, and very often, that’s what counted most.

  “Sled’s over there,” he gestured toward the blue and pink open-top vehicle a few paces away.

  “Shit…how’d that get there?”

  “Magic,” Oln said, laughing as he held my arm.

  “ ‘Sno such thing.” I slurred the words, knowing I sounded like an idiot as he helped me into the passenger side. “Stop being a dumbass.”