War Ring (Canaris Rift Book 6), page 1
War Ring
Todd J. McCaffrey
A Foxxe Frey Book
WAR RING
Copyright © 2022 Todd J. McCaffrey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.
Synopsis: The stunning conclusion to the Canaris Rift Series.
Cover: Todd McCaffrey
Books by Todd McCaffrey
Science fiction
Ellay
The Jupiter Game
The Steam Walker
Canaris Rift Series
Raw Space
The King’s Ghosts
Witch’s Brew
Pirate Queen
War Maid
War Ring
Collections
The One Tree of Luna (And Other Stories)
Dare To Be Mighty (A Collection of F&SF Short Stories)
Dragonriders of Pern® Series
Dragon’s Kin
Dragon’s Fire
Dragon Harper
Dragonsblood
Dragonheart
Dragongirl
Dragon’s Time
Sky Dragons
Nonfiction
Dragonholder: The Life And Times (so far) of Anne McCaffrey
Dragonwriter: A tribute to Anne McCaffrey and Pern
Books by The Winner Twins and Todd McCaffrey
Nonfiction
The Write Path: World Building
Books by McCaffrey-Winner
The Magpie’s War
Twin Soul Series
TS1 - Winter Wyvern
TS2 - Cloud Conqueror
TS3 - Frozen Sky
TS4 - Wyvern’s Fate
TS5 - Wyvern’s Wrath
TS6 - Ophidian’s Oath
TS7 - Snow Serpent
TS8 - Iron Air
TS9 - Ophidian’s Honor
TS10 - Healing Fire
TS11 - Ophidian’s Tears
TS12 - Cloud War
TS13 - Steel Waters
TS14 - Cursed Mage
TS15 - Wyvern’s Creed
TS16 - King’s Challenge
TS17 - King’s Conquest
TS18 - King’s Treasure
TS19 - Wyvern Rider
TS20 - King’s Crown
To see the full list, scan the QR Code
Dedication
In Memory of Alexei Panshin,
RITE OF PASSAGE
Contents
Chapter One 9
Chapter Two 26
Chapter Three 38
Chapter Four 48
Chapter Five 58
Chapter Six 72
Chapter Seven 96
Chapter Eight 106
Chapter Nine 115
Chapter Ten 129
Chapter Eleven 140
Chapter Twelve 152
Chapter Thirteen 163
Chapter Fourteen 176
Chapter Fifteen 188
Epilog 197
Acknowledgments 199
About the Author 200
Chapter One
November 27, 208 AF (After Founding)
The young woman couldn’t have been more than eighteen. She raised her eyes and smiled shyly. “I’m Four. Victoria Branford, clone four,” she explained.
Janis Semovich moved around Ira in two quick strides, his hand outstretched. “Pleased to meet you, uh, Four,” he said.
She looked at his hand for a moment before grasping it with hers.
“It is Four?” Janis continued. “I mean, you are Victoria Branford.”
“Vicki,” she corrected. His hand jerked as it held hers. “If that disturbs you, I could be Four, I suppose.”
“No,” Janis said, shaking his head and releasing her hand. “Vicki is fine.” Behind her, Ira Lux snorted softly. She was the one who had set up the meeting. He turned to glare at her for a moment, then gestured to Vicki, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Oh, you’re going to love this! Ira thought to him.
“I’m here to offer my services,” Vicki Branford told him.
“Please, take a seat,” Janis said, smoothly guiding her to one of the two office chairs in front of his desk before moving spritely to take his chair opposite. He nodded to Ira. “You too, of course.”
Ira nodded, smiling at him with vile humor.
“Now, how may I help you?” Janis said when they were all seated.
“Actually, Admiral, I was wondering if you would take me on as an apprentice,” Vicki Branford replied. She noted his surprised look. “I am trained as a geneticist. I learned a lot with the Zadac.”
“Indeed,” Janis said.
“I understand that you are taking the lead on regenerating the Draya, the ‘greens’ as I believe they’re called,” Vicki continued in a rush. “I’d like to help.”
“Why?”
“After all the Zadac did for me — and us — it’s the least I can do to pay them back,” Vicki said. She raised a hand, fingers outstretched. “I’ve got the SC mods. The same ones as they gave Ophelia Branford. And… well, if you hadn’t already started on the project, I would have done it myself. Sir.”
“I see,” Janis said. He cut a glance toward Ira who returned it with a bland look. She was so enjoying herself.
“And, uh, I understand from Five that you don’t have the SC mods yourself,” Vicki continued in an eager rush. “She and I are convinced that we could fix that, give you the mods so that you could talk to your daughters.”
Beside her, Ira Lux squeaked and hastily raised a hand to cover her grin.
“Have you talked to them?”
“Not yet,” Vicki admitted. “I… well, I thought it best to talk to you first. Before. I mean, you’re their father and all.”
“And you, well, you’re the clone of their mother,” Janis said.
“That’s why I thought of you first,” Vicki said. She gave him a pleading look. “I’m not their mother. I never was. All my memories are the same up until Vicki Three returned through the Rift. But after…” she shook her head. “I have none of those memories.”
Thirty years, Janis thought to himself. He took a deep, steady breath. This woman, this girl, was the spitting image of the woman he’d met thirty years ago. Hell, she was the woman he’d met thirty years ago. But she wasn’t the woman he’d spent his life with. The woman he’d nursed back from insanity, to health, through insanity again, to the creation of their three children. This was the young woman who had become the woman he’d loved. But she was not her.
But this was Vicki. Trained as a geneticist — not a tactician — true, but the same brain, the same feelings…
“Of course, Miz Branford, I’d be delighted!” Janis found himself saying. He rose and the other two rose in response. “Ira, can you get Vicki here set up and bring her up to speed?”
“I can get her set up, but you’re the frontline on getting her up to speed,” Ira replied. She frowned and turned to the suddenly excited Victoria Branford, clone four. “Vicki, I need a few moments with Dr. Semovich. Can you wait outside?”
“Sure!” Vicki chirped, turning to the door. She looked over her shoulder to add, “Thank you, Dr. Semovich. You won’t regret this!”
The door opened for her and shut a moment later.
Ira shook her head at the door then turned back to shake her head at Janis. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Nope, not at all,” Janis admitted with a quick grin. “That girl is younger than my daughters.”
“And the same age as the woman who became your wife,” Ira said.
“Yes,” Janis said. “But that’s not the issue.”
“What is?”
“She gets another chance,” Janis said. “She’s not crazy —”
“That we can tell,” Ira interjected.
“And the whole world’s different,” Janis continued, unperturbed. “And she gets the chance to live the life she wants. Free. Unhampered.” He shook his head and met Ira’s eyes. “And I will damned well make certain that she gets it.”
“Huh,” Ira said.
Janis gave her a look.
She explained, “I didn’t know what to expect. But I didn’t expect that.”
“The woman I loved is dead,” Janis told her firmly. He pointed toward the door. “That woman gets her chance to live the life she wants.” He shook his head firmly. “I will do everything to let her do that.” In a lower voice, he added, “It’s the least I could do for Vicki.”
“Vicki?” Ira probed.
“My Vicki,” Janis said. He pointed to the door again. “Her clone sister.” He waved a hand at Ira. “Now, get going, get her set up.”
“And you’ll bring her up to speed?” Ira said.
“Of course,” Janis replied. “She’s going to be p
“How do you know?”
“The Zadac trained her,” Janis replied. “And she grew up with them.”
#
“She is small, not three years old,” Flora Graylin reported with a disgusted look on her face. “And yet this Admiral Semovich expects us to defer to her.”
“We should report this to Lord Gray,” Captain Aigon agreed.
“Report what?” Lord Gray asked as he jumped into the conference room. His two subordinates winced. Then they noticed that he was carrying — a Lord of the Vivat doing menial work! — a small person in his arms. Her ears were prominent on the sides of her blue implant brain. Prominent and pointed. He lowered Five to the floor and told the others, “I should like you to become acquainted with Five, the gene clone of Victoria Branford and the repository of all Draya knowledge.”
“Draya, my lord?” Captain Aigon said.
“That is the proper name for the species from which degraded ‘Greens’ were derived,” Five said. “That is the species we are planning on recreating. Reviving after millions of years of extinction.”
“My lord, why did you bring this… this here?” Captain Aigon asked.
“I did not have a clear image of the conference room,” Five replied. She glanced up to Lord Gray, her expression veiled. “And — I think — that Lord Gray wanted to ‘show off.’” She glanced up at him once more. “That is the correct term, is it not?”
“Five is the reason we are talking today,” Lord Gray said, smiling down fondly at her. “She was the one who coordinated all the SCs in their defense of Buttercup, Rhein, and Tortuga.”
“Pity she wasn’t there for Belle,” Flora Graylin muttered.
“Actually, I was,” Five replied, turning to face the seated older woman. “However, the defenses were insufficient. We saved everyone from the planet and they are now —” She broke off, her brow rising. “Ah! That is a subject for another day.”
“That sounds like something my lord would say,” Captain Aigon noted.
“Word for word,” Five agreed. Honesty, compelled her to add, “Except for the ‘Ah’ which was my own expression of surprise.” She turned around to look up to Gray. “Lord Gray, these people do not want to work with me, that is obvious. They deride my age, they fear my intelligence and…” she turned to Flora again, with a look of surprise, “... she is trying to decide whether she would look good with pointed ears, too.”
“I thought you couldn’t read minds,” Lord Gray said.
“I can’t,” Five said. “But I am mostly computer, I have enhanced senses, and I can make rapid calculations.” She pointed to Captain Aigon. “To him, I am an abomination, something outside of the Vivat and, therefore, to be despised.”
Gray sighed. He motioned for Five to take a seat, pulling it out for her and pushing it in again, then sat himself. “Captain Aigon, I’d hoped we were passed all that.”
“My Lord, I am willing to work with the ro Ira —”
“Ex-ro,” Gray corrected, his tone more pointed than merely exasperated. “And I’d thought we were beyond that, too.” He kept his gaze on the captain for a moment longer then shook his head. “Very well, Captain Aigon, you are relieved. I shall arrange to transport you back to Graythen.” He gleaned to Flora. “And you? Can you work for an ‘abomination’? We have a war to win, after all.”
“Graythen is your second world,” Five broke in. “Do you plan to recycle him?”
Gray gave her a pained look.
“It seems wasteful,” Five said. “This whole notion of suppressing growth, raising rote-trained perpetually fearful slaves…” She shook her head. “It smacks of the Reds and the Whites.” She glanced toward the captain. “You are the first person I’ve met who hates me just for my existence.” Her expression changed and she turned to Gray. “Can I keep him? Assign him to me?”
“What! My Lord, I must pro—”
“Two choices, captain,” Lord Gray interjected. “Serve Five or learn to work with her.”
“Actually,” Five piped up, “that’s really one choice. Either way he’ll have to work with me.” She added to Lord Gray, “And I think it’s best if all your people spend some time with Admiral Semovich.”
“Doubtless you are correct,” Lord Gray agreed. He glanced back to the other two in the room. “But Admiral Semovich is a very busy man —”
“Perhaps Admiral Holder or Captain Holmes,” Five suggested.
Gray accepted this interruption with a mere nod. “— in which case, we shall appeal to the Fleet Admiral.”
“The Fleet Admiral?” Flora Graylin said, surprised. “That seems —”
“Her name is Carol Grek,” Five replied. “And I’ve just spoken to her and she said, and I quote: ‘Fine, take whoever you want.’”
“You’ve spoken with her…?” Flora said, glancing around the room. “Oh! Telepathically.”
“I understand that we have you to thank for discovering the growth and cascade acceleration process,” Five said, nodding to Flora Graylin and Alwich Aigon both. “I looked over your procedure, it’s not bad.”
“Not bad?” Captain Aigon said, his eyes flashing with anger. “I suppose you could improve on it?”
“Well, yes,” Five agreed. She tapped the blue bulk of her head. “I had to dig as apparently it was a discarded approach, but I found it.”
“Discarded, why?”
“There’s a chance of inducing neural overload, also a possibility of non-integration, both presenting as catatonia, requiring the reversal of the process and the eradication of the growing QE neurons,” Five replied.
“QE?” Captain Aigon demanded.
“I’ve pulled that term from the reports of Dr. York, Dr. Kalman, Dr. Hoban, and the two Doctor Smileys,” Five explained. “It is a shortening of ‘Quantum Gravity Quantum Entanglement.’ They theorize that that is the basis of the abilities you people call ‘Special Communicators.’”
“As opposed to what other people, Five?” Gray asked with a grin.
“Ah… mine,” Five said. She shook her head. “I mean the Draya. The people who made me.”
“This long extinct species?” Flora asked.
“Well, the Zadac,” Five said. “The Zadac hold the knowledge of the Draya in trust.” She pointed to her head and added shyly, “I’m a copy.”
“Of millions of years of history?” Captain Aigon asked.
“Billions,” Five replied. “Some of it’s compressed, archived as infrequently accessed.”
“So these aliens sent you here to what? Conquer us?” Captain Aigon demanded.
Five smiled at him. “Nice,” she said. “You are attempting to invoke a hostile reaction from me.” She was silent for a moment before shaking her head. “I’m afraid that I am not reacting as you would have wished. In answer to your question, I was sent here for three reasons: to help you and to beg you to recreate the Draya.”
“And the third reason?” Flora Graylin prompted.
“Because I asked,” Five told her. She turned to Gray. “I don’t think I should stay here. These two are… stupid and bigoted.” She made a face. “And if this is what your worlds are like, I don’t think I want to see them, either.”
“Well, too bad,” Gray said, grabbing one of her hands. “Because, Five, you can’t promulgate change until you identify the requirement.”
“True,” Five agreed. “But I don’t…” she turned her eyes to him. “Can they learn? Can they change?”
“Those dangers you cited with our accelerated technique, can you fix them?” Flora Graylin asked.
“They don’t need fixing, per se,” Five replied. “Monitoring but, more importantly, ensuring the correct levels of nutrients and vitamins to ease the physiological strain on the body. Oh, and a soothing environment to encourage introspection would help,” Five replied. “Done with sufficient care, we should be able to get the cascade within seventy-two hours and without pain.”
“Three days?” Captain Aigon said. “This I have to see!”
“Are you volunteering, captain?” Five replied. “I compute that it would render all your concerns moot and would speed up our other work.”
Flora Graylin raised a hand. “I’ll try.” Captain Aigon gave her a surprised look but, a moment later, raised his hand, too.
#
