Moon Strik, page 1
part #3 of Atlantean Conflict Series
Contents
Moon Strike
Copyright
Book Club Teaser
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Exclusive Content
About the Author
Acknowledgment
Moon Strike
By
C.P. MacDonald
Copyright © 2019 C.P. MacDonald
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means,
Including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author,
Except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Paris, Tn 38242
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www.cpmacdonaldauthor.com
Cover design © 2019 C.P. MacDonald
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Chapter 1
“Cloak engaged, descending to sixty meters Commander.” The young pilot reported, his attention focused on his readouts before him. Commander Nicia Wyer paced behind him across the small cockpit of the shuttle, hands clasped behind her back. She pressed her lips together, she wasn’t used to being called Commander yet. A year ago the death of the former Commander, her husband Zenas Ferran, had left a hole in her heart she felt could never be filled. It was still difficult for her to believe she was in charge now. In her mind, she was the head scientist of the Kyrios Cartel, not their leader. She did not ask for this honor nor want it, but in honor of her dead love she carried the mantle of Command proudly. She forced herself to stop pacing and faced the forward window. Below their shuttle the cratered surface of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, flew by as the pilot hugged the surface at a dizzying speed. In front of them the rainbow-colored rings of Saturn slid up over the horizon filled the black sky.
“Have both shuttles drop to 45 meters and input the access codes for the hangar doors,” she ordered. Her two shuttles, cloaked and flying low toward a secret military research base on Titan, were stuffed with ten volunteers each for this mission. She wished she had more, but these shuttles were the only two functional Atlantean recon shuttles left in existence. The Kyrios had left these little ships behind on Mars during their failed coup against the Solar System Authority and were the only ships they had left of the ancient Atlantean battlefleet Zenas had resurrected. Following their defeat, the surviving members of the Kyrios Cartel had relocated to hide in the asteroid belt around Jupiter. They no longer had the numbers to mount an all out attack on Earth or the SSA. But if her plan worked, they wouldn’t have too.
Her shuttle flew around a craggy mountain peak to reveal the Titan base in the crater below, the main surface buildings surrounded by a dozen Atlantean battleships docked to the base. According to her spies, only two were known to be functional and powered up. Those two ships were the research vessels for the Planetary Patrol Division. And more specifically, for the Atlanteans inside the PPD, the Tereo. Her face scrunched into a scowl at the thought of them. The Tereo was a faction of Atlanteans who believed it was their race’s duty to protect the Terrans, not to rule them. And for the past year they had been painstakingly trying to reverse engineer some of the advanced technology found within the battle cruisers, the ships her fiance had discovered. She was here to make sure they didn’t finish.
The Titan base filled the window as the cloaked shuttles flew past the automated defense turrets and entered the magnetic airlock. Their set of stolen access codes worked, and they entered unseen into the small hangar. Base security and defenses were light, as a black ops base it relied heavily on secrecy as its main security measure. Most officials in the Planetary Patrol Division and the Solar System Authority didn’t even know it existed, much less housed a fleet of the most advanced battleships known to the human race.
The cruisers had been released out of the hidden Mars cavern where they had laid for hundreds of years by the Kyrios Cartel in an effort to remove the SSA from power. But despite their advanced technology and power, the Kyrios had been defeated. The PPD had put up a remarkable fight with Terran ships upgraded with Atlantean tech, but the Kyrios still had the upper hand in the brief war. But a simple smuggler in a lowly cargo ship had somehow slipped past all of their defenses and destroyed the Command ship, and her love with it. She gripped the back of the pilot’s chair tightly, one day she would find that smuggler and make him pay. After the war, the PPD brought the fleet to this secret base for study, with all but two being mothballed and their reactors shut down and removed for study. Which was fine, two ships were all the Kyrios needed for their new attack plan. She turned to report to Zenas they were almost in position, but caught herself before she spoke. He wasn’t here, she reminded herself. He will never be here.
Outside the window the small hangar was dark with only a few small circles of light. She had purposely scheduled this raid for the night shift of the base. Her two groups exited the shuttles and quietly snuck through the empty hallways. The few security guards on duty were Kyrios agents she had slipped into the base personnel over the past month, which allowed them to creep through the base without raising any alarms. For a secret military base it was laughably easy to make their way to the docks for the two functional cruisers. As they approached the last intersection she held up a fist to command her squad to halt. With a quick peek around the corner she could see two guards posted outside the airlocks that led to the Atlantean cruisers. She gestured for her group to move forward. They took out the guards using silent stunners. The commandos split off into two groups, one for each ship. They accessed the secured airlocks by using the unconscious guard’s handprint. Once inside the ship, she directed a soldier to shoot the keypad to prevent the doors from being opened again. The commandos raced down the hallway and through the research labs to gather up the scientists. On each ship they corralled the prisoners in the main hangar.
Nicia activated a comm station and patched into the other ship to address all the scientists under guard. “I am Commander Wyer of the Kyrios Cartel. I will keep this simple. If you behave yourself, you will live. If you try anything stupid, you will die. I would prefer not to kill fellow Atlanteans, but I will not tolerate any sedition. I have need of all of your expertise, which I will explain later. But for now, sit tight and behave.”
She closed the comm channel, hitched the backpack on her shoulder to a more comfortable position and made her way to the Command deck of the battleship. So far everything had gone according to the plan, which is what she expected since it was her plan. When she entered the command deck, she immediately crossed to the central computer console and carefully placed the backpack down beside it. She laid down on the deck and began to remove the lower panels to expose the circuitry underneath. She pulled a bundle of cables out of the backpack and plugged them into the central computer of the cruiser. The backpack contained a highly specialized A.I. she had painstakingly programmed, using what they had learned from the battleships when they reactivated them back on Mars. This A.I. was much more complex than the native A.I. installed on the ancient battleships. Her custom program allowed for them to streamline operations and automate a large percentage of the battleship’s operations so they could control it with a small skeleton crew. Her secondary commando group on the other ship was installing a remote access hub so she could control both ships with on A.I. The comm in her ear chirped for attention. The lead officer of the other group quickly informed her the hub had been installed and they were ready for liftoff.
She tapped acknowledgment and silently watch the status lights on the backpack change from red to green as the connection to the central computer was established.
“A.I. online,” came a flat but smooth voice over the comm speakers of the ship. In order for the A.I. to process the automated features of the ship, concessions had to be made, like a limited personality matrix and restricted cognitive functions. Which was fine for this operation, she had no plans to get into any firefights with the PPD or enter long conversations with the Artificial Intelligence, she just needed it to fly the ships out of here.
“Connect to second cruiser and power up engines”, Nicia ordered.
“Acknowledged” the computer said.
With the start of the two cruiser engines, the remaining personnel of the main base realized something was happening and sounded the alarms.
“Undock, and increase engine thrust to one quarter until we reach orbit, and activate shields,” was her next order to the computer. She tapped her com piece to notify her skeleton crew on board both ships, “All hands, prepare for acceleration and possible evasive maneuvers.”
When the two cruisers rose above the Titan base, security guns opened fire from hidden installations around the secret base. The A.I., already programmed for this contingency, raised shields and automatically returned fire, aiming at the source of the blasters below until the firing stopped.
“Gun batteries destroyed,” came the simple statement from the computer. “Orbit will be achieved in one minute.”
Nicia nodded her head and ordered over her comm, “Alpha leader, we are away. Trigger the explosives and clean house.” Besides infiltrating agents into the security crew of the Titan base, they had also smuggled in large quantities of explosives. Over the past month the explosive had been secretly hidden on the unpowered battleship moored at the base. Even from orbit she could see the explosions rip the remaining Atlantean ships apart. She grinned at the carnage below, happy at how well executed her plan went, as it usually did. Now she, and the Kyrios, had the only two remaining Atlantean Battleships left in existence. The PPD had nothing that could stand in her way now. Once her battleships were secured she would send the Alpha team back to make sure that they did not leave anyone at the Titan base alive.
Her second in command entered the command deck, marched up to her and snapped a quick salute. “The engines are prepped and are ready for full speed once we reach orbit, Ma’am.” Although the modified A.I. could do most of the ship operations, there remained some functions that still had to be handled by humans, hence her skeletal crew.
“Good, good work.” Nicia walked over to the Captain’s chair, turned and sank into the chair, relishing how comfortable it was as it conformed to her body. “Order full speed to Jupiter and let our people know we are coming and to be ready. We will need to get started immediately once we arrive.”
The PPD, having killed her fiance and captured the Atlantean fleet, had mistakenly thought they had wiped out the secretive Kyrios faction. Luckily some of them had managed to escape. As the ranking surviving officer, it was now her job to carry out their mission, to regain their position of power in the Solar System. For now, they hid what was left of their small faction in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Standing next to her, staring out the forward viewscreen the officer asked, “Have you decided on a name for this ship yet, Ma’am?”
Tapping her fingers on the arm of the chair, Nicia considered for a moment and said coldly “Vengeance. I will call her Vengeance.”
Staring out the window, she said, “Computer, take us home.”
Chapter 2
Calin sipped his beer and grimaced at the aftertaste. The drink was as sophisticated as his surroundings, which wasn’t saying very much. He glanced at the dingy skylights above; the view filled with the planet Jupiter and the glow from the asteroid belt. He had to admit, although being the Captain of the Sea Rover may be dangerous and illegal, you got to see the sights of the Solar System. The view above almost made up for the scenery around him - almost. The bar was filled with asteroid miners, covered in dust, dirt, and sweat. He kept pinching his nose, hoping to block out the stench of dirty bodies, cheap cigars, and drug sticks. A heavy cloud of smoke drifted by and tickled his nose, enticing a sneeze at the same time the power to the gravity plates below fluctuated. The artificial gravity dropped to fifty percent, so the sneeze lifted him off his stool in the low gravity. But Calin was an experienced spacer and knew to keep one hand on his drink and a foot tucked under his stool to prevent him from floating off. The gravity plates cycled back to full power and everyone was settled down onto their stools again.
Since this was an illegal asteroid belt mine, he didn’t expect to find any tourist or regular folk wandering around.
To his left sat Mouse, his computer officer who had recently rejoined his crew on board the Sea Rover. He had left due to boredom, but as soon as he found out they were working System-wide he asked to come back onboard. Oblivious to the noise and crowd around him, he was busy tapping away at some program on his ever present tablet, with an occasional sip of his carbonated water. And to his right sat Dean Gorney, his engineer and best friend. Dean knocked back a shot of the local so-called whiskey, made a face at the taste before he refilled his glass, and continued listing his complaints about their current job. As usual.
“Just once can’t we get a job in a nice place? Like one of the high-end pleasure stations above Venus?” Dean suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Somewhere where they don’t serve rocket fuel as a drink?” he whined and held up his shot glass in emphasis before he tossed it back.
“Somehow I don’t see those kinds of places needing the services we provide,” stated Calin. He turned around on his stool to look out over the crowded bar. Even though the smoky haze his copilot, Shona, was easy to spot. Her black hair and white skin made her stand out no matter where she was. And as always, the easiest way to find her in a crowd was to follow the gaze of the men in the room. Right now she was over by the music kiosk, swiping through the selection of outdated music. Her shiny black hair flowed down her back past her shoulders and reflected the neon light of the bar in a multitude of colors.
She looked up, caught his eye, and grinned when she tapped her selection. The blaring tunes of an ancient honky tonk song blasted over the bar speakers. He groaned, she knew he hated that old music and had chosen it on purpose to agitate him.
Shona slipped through the crowd and headed back to their table. Her walk drew the attention of most of the males in the room. One particularly abbreviated male stood up and stepped in front of her to block her path. Calin couldn’t hear what the drunk man was saying to Shona but he could see the look of disgust that crossed Shona’s face. She attempted to side step around the drunken miner, but he reached out and grabbed her around the waist to pull her in close. Shona pushed against his barreled chest to free herself but he gripped her tighter and started dancing to the awful honky tonk music. Before Calin could stand up from his stool to help her, Shona grabbed the man’s hand from behind her waist, gave it a twist into an unnatural angle, and spun around to bring the arm up and over her head as she turned. The drunk flipped head over heels and hit the deck on his back with a thud heard over the music. Shona calmly looked around at the suddenly silent crowd, stepped over the unconscious miner, and preceded to join them at their table.
Calin motioned for the barkeep for another drink when Shona sat down beside Mouse. She turned to Calin and said sarcastically, “You always take us to the most wonderful places, Captain.”
“Ah, you know me, always the best for my crew. You OK?” He replied and held his mug up to her in a toast.
“Of course,” she said raising an eyebrow at him. “You don’t think I can’t handle a drunk? Please.”
Dean tapped his empty shot glass on the table in agitation and asked “How much longer is it going to take to load those ingots onboard?”
“I don’t know, why don’t we ask?” Calin replied as he got up from his stool. “The foreman just walked in.” Following his cue, the crew of the Sea Rover followed him across the bar to the table the shift foreman of the illegal mining operation had just sat down at.
Calin had to wonder why all the foreman of these illegal mining operations he dealt with were always large, overly muscled men with small brains?
“Yea? What do you want?” the bulky foreman asked when they all stood in front of his table.
“Any idea how much longer it will take to load my ship? I’ve got a schedule to keep,” asked Calin.
The foreman looked them up and down before replying in a slow drawl, “You the Sea Rover right?” He waved his hand in dismissal, “They will do it on the next shift, I got all of my men busy on a rich vein we just hit.”
“That wasn’t the timetable we agreed upon,” Calin stated, forcing calm into his voice. His right hand moved down and released the safety strap on his blaster strapped to his thigh. “The longer we sit here doing nothing, the more it will cost you. We had a deal. You mine the metal, I get it out of here. No mess, no fuss. Job done.”
Seeing Calin’s hand near his holster, two of the foreman’s guards stepped closer to their bulky boss, their hands gripped their blaster rifles tighter.
