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  STAR FRONTIER: DESCENT

  A Space Opera Adventure

  Copyright © 2014 Hamish Spiers

  All rights reserved.

  The right of Hamish Spiers to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted to him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. With the exception of fair use for the purposes of criticism or review as permitted under copyright legislation, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

  ISBN: 978-0-9923706-6-4

  First published: 2014

  This edition published: 2018

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Star Frontier: Descent

  1. The Matter of Katara

  2. The Survivor

  3. The Back-Up Plan

  4. A Lead

  5. The Imraehi Connection

  6. Moving the Schedule

  7. Outside Friendly Territory

  8. Maia and Zak’s Preparations

  9. Jiang Arrives

  10. Asten and Selina Arrive

  11. Deramar Ardeis

  12. The Jungle

  13. Felkar

  14. Accomplices

  15. Decision on Hie’shi

  16. The Task Force Departs

  17. The Stinger Nets

  18. The River

  19. Border Encounter

  20. Crisis in Kerali

  21. Jiang Takes a Stand

  22. The Sea

  23. Catastrophe

  24. The Heavens Ablaze

  25. Last Words

  26. Safe at Last

  27. The Inquiry

  28. The Truth

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  This book is dedicated to, among others, my wife Erin, my son Jason, my Dad, my brother Rob for his feedback over the years, Paul and Andrew for showcasing some of my work on their blog, and Geof and Steve for all their support.

  1. The Matter of Katara

  Dappled sunlight, cast this way and that by the palm fronds overhead, splashed over the roof and through the skylight of the little home.

  Asten Korr, stretching his legs on this warm morning, smiled as he brushed a hand over a fern and admired the rooftop garden.

  Over the past few years, he had almost forgotten what it was like to have a home that stayed in one place, under a constant sky. His home had been something he had taken with him between skies, between worlds. Whereas, now, he had settled and it was something he found he enjoyed.

  Through the skylight, he saw his extraordinary wife Selina down below where she was making some coffee. Half-human. Half-Phalamkian. The woman he loved.

  And with any luck, with the artificial assistance that was always necessary for couples where one or both partners were of mixed species, it was only a matter of time before the next addition to their happy household arrived. With three quarters of their genetic input being human, it was unlikely that their child would exhibit much in the way of physical Phalamkian characteristics, like the slight blue hue to their mother’s skin or her eyes like black marble, but that wouldn’t matter. What mattered was that the child would be theirs.

  Asten hoped the time would come soon.

  He put his hands in his pockets. Then, as though responding to a silent reprimand, he pulled them out again, squared his shoulders and headed downstairs to see his wife. As his father had told him the last time he’d visited the family home on Halea, he had an image to maintain now. Whether he liked it or not, Selina was a member of a well-respected Phalamkian family with the responsibilities that came with such a position - and, by the institution of marriage, they now extended to him. Initially, he hadn’t paid them all that much attention but he now understood that it was all part of the dowry.

  “Good morning,” he said as he came inside. He kissed Selina on the cheek and thanked her for the coffee she handed him.

  He then glanced down at a pad she had slid across the kitchen counter to him.

  “Work?” he asked.

  “Hm-hm,” Selina nodded, taking a sip of her coffee.

  Asten’s face remained impassive as he looked at the pad. “Imraec Tarc... I can’t say I know him.”

  “Imraec Tarc’s not a him,” Selina replied. “Or a her either, I should add. It’s a planet.”

  Asten made a face and put the pad down. “Ah, yeah. It’s coming back now. Let’s see... petitioned to join the United Frontier in 289 -”

  “288,” Selina said, nodding. “But close.”

  Asten grinned. “Thank you.” He took a sip of his own coffee and put the cup down. “So anyway, where was I? These guys petitioned to join the United Frontier but they were turned down because they’re still illegally occupying another world no one’s ever heard of.”

  Selina laughed. “You’ve really got the hang of this diplomatic stuff now, haven’t you?”

  Asten shook his head, still smiling. “I just don’t have your memory for details, that’s all. Still though, I’m not doing too badly. The average Frontier citizen wouldn’t know either of these two worlds.” He looked at the pad. “Ah. The world these guys are occupying is Katara. Yeah, I knew that. It’s coming back to me.”

  “Well, Father’s just got back from a conference in the Hie’shi system about the whole thing,” Selina said. “And he wants to talk to us about it.”

  Asten frowned, still reading the information on the pad. “Us? Yeah, sure... Um, it says here that Imraec Tarc had until 290 to relinquish any and all control over Katara or the United Frontier would take interventive measures against it.” He put the pad down and looked at his wife. “That was last year. Why are we still at the ‘talking about it’ stage?”

  Selina shrugged. “I’d say everyone’s just being careful.”

  “About a backwater no one’s heard of?”

  “Well,” Selina said, thinking it over, “the people of Imraec Tarc might still pose something of a threat. But even if we can overwhelm them with sheer military strength, it’s possible there could be casualties on our side, not to mention casualties on Katara. Even just a few is enough to give most people pause, especially as we’ve now had a bit of time to get accustomed to peace. But there’s something else. We... The United Frontier that is... We have to be careful about overstepping our boundaries. Now, don’t get me wrong. No one approves of what Imraec Tarc is doing on Katara and it’s unlikely that an intervention will draw significant opposition from the Federation, the Harskans or the Minstrahn. But we still have to be careful that we’re not seen as an aggressor. There’d be quite a few people in the Federation, for instance, who’d jump on the hypocrisy of that in a heartbeat.”

  Asten nodded. “Right. The past victim of a highly coordinated attempt at annexation now going on the offensive against a small independent world. I guess that wouldn’t look too good.”

  “So that could be another reason for the hold up,” Selina said. She finished her coffee. “Anyway, why don’t we go and see Father and find out what the story is?”

  “Status report if you would, Kailis.”

  All was quiet on the bridge of the Lantern, a newly minted Bromlor Hardcase freighter, with a new crew in turn, albeit one where everyone on board had plenty of experience on other ships.

  A young Felariam woman at the helm, who at that moment was also keeping an eye on the navigational controls, stirred at the request for the status report, flicking her gaze on the panel beside her, the red glow from her eyes briefly, if almost imperceptibly, illuminating it.

  She turned around in her seat, smiling at
the captain, a woman a handful of years older than she was.

  “All members of the convoy are holding course, Captain,” the Felariam woman reported. “And the Tigress is still keeping pace with the rest of the group. However, they haven’t logged any update on their field repairs.”

  The captain smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about it. I understand the affected component isn’t an essential system. And if they can’t repair it, we’ll replace it when we reach the Alandra system.”

  Kailis nodded. “Okay, Captain.” She turned back to the helm.

  The captain in the meantime turned her attention to the viewscreen in the middle of the bridge. As for the view forward and aft, there wasn’t much to see at present as the entire convoy was proceeding well past lightspeed. However, there were other options. Shifting a toggle on the panel beside her, she brought up Kailis’ radar display and saw the relative positions of the other ships, the four other vessels in her group and the three bulk cargo transports they were escorting.

  Everything was running smoothly but life was about to get quite interesting. As it often did, everything started innocently enough. This time round, it was a few innocuous beeps that signaled all that was to come.

  “Captain,” the old man at the communication console said. “I’m picking up a distress signal. Very faint.”

  The captain frowned. “Put it on the speaker, Eroim.”

  “Aye, Captain,” the man replied, tapping a few switches.

  A moment later, the smaller communication screen in the center of the bridge came to life with the image of a young and, to the more primal part of the captain’s mind, quite attractive dark skinned man. He was possibly over thirty but not likely by much.

  The captain squared her shoulders as she addressed him. “This is Captain Carla Casdan of the freighter Lantern, currently on course for Alandra. Please state the nature of your emergency.”

  “Captain Casdan,” the man said, his tone polite, “I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you but we’re very much isolated out here and we can’t reach anyone else.”

  “I understand,” Carla said. “What’s the problem?”

  “We’re running a delydrium mine and we’ve had a reactor failure. We need a field repair team down here fast or we’re going to have to evacuate.” The man hesitated. “And we don’t have enough transport ships to move everyone.”

  Carla frowned. “How many people are we talking about?”

  “About fifty,” the man replied, “and all we’ve got at the moment are a couple of small shuttles and a cargo transport.”

  “You should have enough ships then. Can’t you use the transport?”

  The man hesitated again. “It’s got a full load at the moment and the chief operator doesn’t want anyone unloading it unless we absolutely have to.”

  “Well, you may have to,” Carla replied.

  The man nodded. “I know.”

  “All right,” Carla said, easing off. “What about your reactor? How much time do you think it has left?”

  “Uh... about three days. No more.”

  “I see,” Carla said. “Now, where are you?”

  A few minutes after the conversation had ended, Carla sat down in her ready room with Kailis and Eroim. She nodded to the old man first. “Well?”

  “We can’t bring an official presence into the Autonomous Levarc Territories,” he said. “And they shouldn’t be there.”

  “There’s no argument on that score,” Carla agreed. “But that’s not the issue here. Maybe these people deserve a fine or even jail time, but I’m not going to sign their death warrants just because they’re mining on the wrong side of that line out there.”

  She drummed her fingers on the table in front of her. “But you’re right in that we can’t mount an official rescue effort. Not without dealing with a lot of red tape. And that’s another thing. Even if we could arrange something official, we don’t have the time. You heard what the man said. Three days. Seventy-two hours give or take. Now, we’re thirty-eight hours from the nearest Frontier port any way we look at it so if we were to head there and back, without even considering the time it’d take to organize a large scale operation, we’d already be too late. Even from here, we’d need at least fifty hours to reach that rock.”

  Kailis frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “Trust me,” Carla told her.

  Kailis nodded. She knew her captain was quite knowledgeable about these things. Her first work on interstellar vessels had been as a navigator after all.

  “But what about our clients?” she asked.

  “We don’t all need to go,” Carla told her. “In fact, I’m intending to take just this ship. The rest can stay with the transports. Hellesis has enough experience to lead the convoy and I can think of a dozen more of our people who are up to the task if he doesn’t want the duty.”

  “Then it’s settled?” Eroim asked, standing up with a flash in his eye, the spark of an adventurous spirit that was forever threatening to get the better of him. Carla sometimes wondered what he’d been like before age had tempered it.

  “It’s settled,” she said, standing up as well. She nodded to Kailis. “Lay in a course and inform the crew.” Then she turned to the old man. “Eroim. Tell Hellesis what’s going on. Once he gets our clients to the Alandra, he and the rest of the group can head over to Phalamki. We’ll catch up with them there when we’re done. In the meantime, they can spend a fortnight or so planetside.”

  Lord Erama greeted his daughter Selina and her husband Asten as they entered his home. All of seven feet in height with the four arms that were such a peculiar trait to his people, he struck a daunting figure - but there were signs of age that hadn’t been there before, such as the slight graying of his hair. Nonetheless, he was still very much an active member of the Phalamkian defense forces and he involved himself with many of the United Frontier’s diplomatic matters.

  “Selina. Asten.” He smiled at his children and gestured for them to come in. “It’s good to see you.”

  “How are things in the Hie’shi system?” Asten asked as they followed him and sat down at a table on the outdoor balcony.

  Lord Erama sighed. “If you’re asking about the main world, it seemed as nice as I last remembered it. However, Senator Ereis was pushing this Imraec Tarc business our way a little too much for my liking. He didn’t out and out state that it’s a Phalamkian problem but he came close to it. And I had really been hoping that Admiral Kalae would make it to the conference as well, as it would have been nice to have a few more people in my corner but she couldn’t come.” He smiled. “But never mind.”

  “So why does this Hie’shi senator think Imraec Tarc’s our problem?” Asten asked. “If it’s time for military intervention in this Katara situation, then it’s a matter for all the United Frontier surely.”

  “That would be the case,” Lord Erama agreed, “if it were time for such intervention. However, not everyone’s convinced of that yet.”

  Asten frowned. “The deadline passed last year. And the occupation of Katara has been going on since 233. That’s fifty-eight years all up. It pre-dates the Levarc War.”

  Lord Erama nodded. “Indeed. It’s high time something was done about it. No one’s arguing against that. But the issue is that no one wants to go in blind without getting a clearer understanding of the situation there. After all, there’s so much we still don’t know.”

  “Like what?” Selina asked, joining in the discussion.

  “Well, we don’t know what their defenses are like,” her father replied. “And that’s just for starters. And we still know very little about what is going on down on the surface of either Imraec Tarc or Katara. Then, on top of all that, there’s also the problem of all those pirates and smugglers operating in the area who’ve been undermining all our sanctions. And if Imraec Tarc is a sanctuary for such groups, especially as we’ve been steadily driving them out of Frontier territory, there might be more threats to deal with there than
just the Imraehi. And that’s the last thing. Even though we’ve had some verbal communication with the leadership of Imraec Tarc, we still haven’t seen a single member of their species. We have no idea who they are or what they look like. To put it mildly, we know absolutely nothing about these people.”

  Asten frowned. “You’re kidding, right? I did my homework on the way over here and I read that Laonist granted asylum to the surviving members of the exiled Kataran government so -”

  “Lucky them,” Selina murmured. “After getting kicked off Katara by the Imraehi, they got to be kicked off Laonist by Corinthe.”

  “I think they opted to wait the Laonist occupation out,” Asten said. He gave his wife a little smile. “If I remember my reading correctly.”

  Selina smiled back and clasped his arm.

  “But,” Asten said, turning back to Lord Erama, “you mean to tell me that the Katarans living here in the Frontier have never seen an Imraehi either?”

  Lord Erama shook his head. “No. In their words, they’ve only really come into contact with the Imraehi’s thugs. Mostly humans, I’m sorry to say.”

  Asten shrugged. “It’s all right. Humans are hardly a virtuous species.”

  “Still though,” Selina said, getting back to the topic, “it’s unbelievable that after fifty-eight years of the Imraehi occupying Katara, no one apart from the thugs who deal with them know what they look like.”

  Her father sighed. “I agree. It’s something. But it’s the truth. And while some of the aforementioned pirates and smugglers may be able to answer some of our questions, it’s unlikely they’ll come forth and offer us information of their own volition. In fact, as far as we’re aware, there’s only one outsider at present who might be able to give us some insight. Someone we should be able to trust.”

  Asten noticed the slight emphasis on ‘should’. “You don’t trust him?”

  Lord Erama shook his head. “No. He’s a strange case. He went out there over a year ago to assess the situation for us - to solve some of the mysteries I just told you about - and he never came back.”

  “He disappeared?”