Race Across Spacetime - An Epic Space Opera Adventure (Aeon 14: The Orion War Book 11) Read online

  RACE ACROSS SPACETIME

  THE ORION WAR – BOOK 11

  BY M. D. COOPER

  Just in Time (JIT) & Beta Readers

  Copyright © 2019 M. D. Cooper

  Aeon 14 is Copyright © 2019 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

  PART 1 – LOST IN SPACE

  SEDNA MINE

  THE WAY HOME

  CHANGE OF PLAN

  BEREAVEMENT DELAYED

  MOTION

  INTERCEPT

  RECONCILIATION

  HUNTING THE HUNTED

  COUNTERSTRIKE

  CRUX OF THE MOSH

  HAND TO HAND

  FUBAR

  CAPTIVE

  CONFESSIONS

  THE VISITOR

  PART 2 – HOP, SKIP, AND A JUMP

  PURSUIT

  PREMATURE

  TWILIGHT INKWELL

  ACCEPTABLE DIVISION

  DELEGATION

  PRISONER’S DUTY

  ENGAGE

  THE BREACH

  BENDING

  STAY ON TARGET

  IN A MAZE

  DEVASTATION RENDEZVOUS

  MISTS OF TIME

  PART 3 – UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

  INTERROGATEE

  BEER RUN

  CAT AND MOUSE

  NEWFOUNDLAND

  BIG GAME

  THE HEART OF THE MATTER

  ROUND AND ROUND

  IDEATION

  THE JUMP

  THE GALACTIC CORE

  END OF DAYS

  PART 4 – SPACETIME WARRIORS

  NEW SOL

  BATTLE REDUX

  WISH UPON A DARK STAR

  LUXA BRIGHT

  EVEN PLAYING FIELD

  DESCENT

  BREACH REDUX

  THE STAKES

  THE SLEEPER

  RELEASE

  NOT BY CHANCE

  BOOM

  GIVING IN

  FINAL COUNTDOWN

  PART 5 – NEW CANAAN

  HOMECOMING

  THE BOOKS OF AEON 14

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  FOREWORD

  Dear reader, you’ve come a long way with me by this point—and with the characters I write about as well. You’re undoubtedly curious about what has happened to Tanis, but I implore you to give this foreword a read, and you’ll see how it all connects.

  I just double-checked, and book ten of the Orion War, Starfire, came out on May 30th 2019. That was one day before I came out as a transgender woman, and what a ride the past six months have been.

  I’ve had a lot of ups and downs—but more ups by a long shot. My family is at my side, wife and daughter fully supporting me, and that has made all the difference in the world when it comes to feeling happy and being healthy.

  I’ve matured a lot, grown a lot, and gained a much deeper understanding of both myself and the world around me. It’s made me a much better person than I was before—not because women are better than men, or because being trans gives me some sort of special insight. No, I’m a better person because I took the opportunity to change more about myself than how the world sees my gender.

  I made myself completely vulnerable.

  I don’t hide from anyone that I’m a transwoman (though I can pass very well until I speak) and I’m not ashamed of it in any way. I dress how I want to, present how I want to, and am, in every way, a happier person than I’ve ever been in my life.

  That’s not to say that I’ve been a terribly unhappy person. If you’ve read my books (and I suspect you have, if you’re reading this) you may have picked up on my eternal optimism. But it’s like I’ve lived my whole life with just one arm. Arms don’t make you happy, you have to make yourself happy. But going from one to two arms is definitely a reason to be happier. Four is even better; just ask Rika’s mechs.

  But back to being vulnerable, and how that has made me a better person. If you’ve seen some of my pictures, you’ll have seen that I love cosplay, and that I’m as at home in a catsuit as most folks are in jeans and a t-shirt. I’m a bit girly, for lack of a better term, and some people look down on me for that—or at least, I assume they do. I don’t notice because I’m too busy soaking up the raw joy that comes from being truly honest with myself about what I really am.

  Even with that joy, vulnerability has taught me that another important transition in my life is to fully embrace humility. I joke that I live in a glass house built of glass houses. I went from a fair way up on the social/class ladder down to one of the lower rungs, and I’ve gotten a very different view of the world. That means I have to be more mindful of what I say, and I can also see that things I once thought were totally innocuous are often more harmful than I’d believed.

  I’ve matured a lot.

  Don’t worry, I’m not calling you out, or shaming anyone for the things they’ve said, or opinions they hold. I believe that we can all find ways to get along, to build bridges and come to a greater understanding of our fellow humans. I don’t have an ounce of demographically-defined angst in me, and I am happy to write stories that depict a broad swath of humanity and are read by a broad swath of humanity.

  I hope to convey those messages in my stories, just as I always have. That different people are great; that we are all a part of a grand tapestry; that things we don’t understand aren’t necessarily bad; and that we can all build bridges toward a greater understanding of one another and be a happier, better human race for it.

  All of which brings us back to Tanis and Angela, alone, lost in space, having just gone through a transition of their own.

  Tanis (including Angela, of course) and Sera are the first two characters I ever wrote that really came alive on the page. They’re alive in our minds, too, people that we’ve spent countless hours with, people we’ve shared hopes, dreams, angst, anger, and passion with.

  If you’re wondering what my transition means insofar as my writing and my future is concerned, if you really want to know who I am, then look no further than Tanis and Sera.

  Tanis is my mind, and Sera is my heart (and fashion sense!).

  I hope you’ll keep traveling through the stars with them, and with me.

  Also, if you’d like to learn more about my transition and experiences around being a transwoman, you can search Amazon for books by Malorie Cooper. If you’d like to reach out to me with any questions, thoughts, concerns, or just to say ‘hi’, you can always reach me by email.

  M. D. Cooper

  Danvers 2019

  [email protected]

  PREVIOUSLY…

  Firstly, if you have not yet read Book 10.5 of the Orion War, Return to Kapteyn’s Star, I highly recommend that you do so now. You can get this book for free on Bookfunnel, or for $0.99 on Amazon.

  At the end of Starfire, the unthinkable happened: Tangel gave her life to save her family and capture Kirkland, the praetor of the Orion Freedom Alliance. At the story’s end, the survivors were brought aboard the I2, mourning the loss of Tangel.

  But we know that Tanis and Angela came awake in a pinnace, lost in the debris field of Luxa, the moon that Star City’s neutronium bullets had destroyed.

  All the while, Jesscia has been working to strengthen her position at Kapteyn’s Star and prepare for the next phase of the assault on the Hegemony of Worlds, the last major Inner Stars enemy that stands between the Allies and the end of the Orion War.

  KEY CHARACTERS

  Cary – Tangel’s biological daughter. Has a trait where she can deep-Link with other people, creating a temporary merger of minds, and is able to utilize extradimensional vision to see ascended beings. Currently aboard the Perilous Dream, having assumed the role of Widow A1.

  Faleena – Tangel’s AI daughter, born of a mind merge between Tanis, Angela, and Joe. Widow designation F11.

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

  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.

  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 traveling through Orion space before the Defense of Carthage—specifically the Perseus Arm, and Perseus Expansion Districts.

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

  Kirkland (Praetor) – The leader of the Orion Freedom Alliance (often referred to as Orion, or by its military’s name, the Orion Guard). Kirkland was the captain of the second FGT worldship, and resides on Earth in the New Sol System

  Krissy Wrentham – 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 Wrentham –
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. Former Widow designation A1.

  Priscilla – One of Bob’s two avatars, who traveled aboard the Perilous Dream with Cary, Saanvi, and Faleena. Widow designation R329.

  Prime – An AI who went insane due to unethical experimentation in the 32nd century, Prime was thought to have been killed at Proxima by an AI named Eric, but a backup of the unstable AI escaped.

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

  Saanvi – Tangel’s adopted daughter, found in a derelict ship that entered the New Canaan System. Widow designation E12.

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

  Sera – Director of the Hand and former president of the Transcend. Daughter of Airtha and Jeffrey Tomlinson.

  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.

  Tanis – Not to be confused with Tangel’s former human identity, Tanis is the oldest of Jessica, Trevor, and Iris’s AI children. She resides at Star City.

  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.

  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 Tangel when New Canaan became embroiled in the Orion War.

  Tracey – Captain of the ISS Falconer, currently deployed to the Karaske System in Orion space with Admiral Evans aboard.

  Trevor – Husband of Iris and Jessica Keller. Originally from the Virginis System, Trevor is now a commander in the ISF and serves with his wives aboard the ISS Lantzer.

  Uriel – Leader of the Hegemony of Worlds, Uriel has turned from an elected official to a dictator who styles herself the ‘hegemon’. She rules from High Terra in the Sol System.

  Virgo – An AI upgraded by Myrrdan to take over the Intrepid, Virgo was the rogue AI responsible for much of the sabotage on the Intrepid that led it to the near-disaster at Estrella de la Muerte. The corrupted node Virgo inhabited was too dangerous to attempt to purge or store, so Bob and Earnest ejected it from the Intrepid in interstellar space.

  MAPS

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

  PART 1 – LOST IN SPACE

  SEDNA MINE

  STELLAR DATE: 05.01.8950 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Balance of Power, approaching Sedna

  REGION: Scattered Disk, Sol System, Hegemony of Worlds

  Virgo commented.

  Prime had to agree—though that was what made the worldlet a perfect location for their work.

  Sedna was nearing its aphelion, now a little under a thousand AU from Sol, brushing against the inner regions of the Hills Cloud—the torrid-shaped inner Oort cloud that contained nearly a hundred Earths’ worth of material.

  Or used to, before most of it was consumed.

  Now it was a lonely stretch of nothing, where Sedna sailed through the plasma of interstellar space, slowing before gravity’s scale tipped, and it would begin its journey back toward Sol.

  After a few more minutes of reflection, Prime replied.

 

 

  Prime noted the absence of AIs in Virgo’s statement. From the histories he’d consumed, AIs had shaped the course of Sol’s Scattered Disk as much as humans—perhaps more.

  It was an increasingly large blindspot in his partner’s behavior, something that was reaching near-psychosis levels. Even more telling was that Virgo couldn’t see how he’d been used as a tool by other AIs and then abandoned—or, at the very least, he didn’t assign it a commensurate level of blame.

  Prime said.

  Prime and Virgo had successfully liberated three AST cruisers from the Alexandria shipyards during the ISF attack on Kapteyn’s Star. Surprisingly, Admiral Jessica’s fleet hadn’t even attempted to capture the ships.

  Virgo considered the admiral lazy for it, but Prime suspected that she was happy to sow chaos in the Hegemony systems. In the end, it would make things much worse.

  In the escape from Kapteyn’s Star, Prime and Virgo had amassed a secondary resource that would be instrumental in the next phase of their plan: humans.

  Over a hundred meat puppets were now under his control, and eleven million more awaited him on Sedna. Soon, they would flood InnerSol, infiltrating the government and paving the way for his arrival.

  Then something occurred to him.

  Prime said as the ships moved into a high orbit around Sedna, their captains communicating with the locals, arranging for resupply.

  Virgo asked.

 

 

  Prime sent an affirmative feeling.

  The kernel of a worry formed in the back of his mind, a concern that perhaps someone else was out there pulling his strings.

  Or at the very least, guiding his steps.

  That made him wonder if Virgo was solely driven by a need for revenge and destruction, as the AI’s behavior indicated.

  What if he is a part of a scheme that is using me for its own ends?

  The more Prime thought about it, the more he became certain that his encounter with the other AI in the darkness of interstellar space was not driven by chance, but by an agency.

  But what agency?

  There was only one answer he could think of, and he didn’t like it at all.

  THE WAY HOME

  STELLAR DATE: 05.07.8950 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: ISF Pinnace, near New Earth

  REGION: Inner New Sol, Orion Freedom Alliance

  “OK, let’s see what we have.” Tanis pulled up a view of surrounding space on the pinnace’s console, double-checking that the ship was running passive scan. No need to announce their presence to whomever might be lurking nearby.

  Angela muttered.

  Tanis activated the forward display, the holo defaulting to a view off the ship’s bow. “You don’t say. I’m looking through the nav logs. OK…this bird belongs to the I2, which was most recently at…wow…Star City.”

  Angela chuckled.

  “New Sol…” Tanis leant back in the seat and ran a hand over her head, absently tightening her ponytail. Her thoughts were coming slowly, but the AI’s words brought a clarity of purpose, if not actual thought. “Any mission report in the comps? I didn’t see anything, but you never know.”

  “Nope, there’s some corruption in the system. Not sure if it’s damage from the kaboom or something else yet. I managed to pull a few recent stops from the flight logs, but all the locations are referenced by IDs, and they’re not my databases.”

  “What about…?” Tanis mused. “You know.”