Beyond Nightfall: A Gritty Space Opera Adventure (Frontier's Reach Book 2)
Copyright © 2019 Robert C. James
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This book is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Welcome
Welcome to Frontier’s Reach. Beyond Nightfall is the second book in a series following the exploits of the Cargo Ship Argo and a cast of recurring characters. The installments will be released as serials, with overriding arcs spanning several books.
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Thank you and enjoy.
Robert C. James
BEYOND NIGHTFALL
FRONTIER’S REACH BOOK 2
ROBERT C. JAMES
Contents
Welcome
Contents
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
Author’s Notes
Connect with the Author
Chapter 1
October 22, 2213
UECS Vanguard
“What do you make of it?“
Commander Ravith Perera stood at the combat station, examining the scanners on Lieutenant Sharma’s monitor.
The younger officer shook his head. “I don’t know, sir. It’s certainly a ship of some kind. Seems to be moving much too quickly to be anything else.”
Ravith narrowed his eyes. “If it’s a vessel, it’s faster than anything I’ve seen. Can you get a transponder ID?”
“No, sir, the bogey’s running dark.”
“What’s its heading?”
“Straight for Orion V.” Sharma reexamined his monitor. “No, wait. The contact’s altering course to pass by Orion VIII.”
“The tracking satellite?”
“Yes, sir.”
Ravith’s stomach turned. “I don’t like this at all.” He hurried to the central command station and activated the scanners on the console. Something caught his attention. “Lieutenant Sharma, is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, sir. There’s a maintenance pod near the satellite. Which means—”
“There’s someone out there.”
Hell.
“Commander, a commlink’s being sent out to the maintenance pod from Orion V,” Ensign Xi said from the communications console.
“Pipe us in.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you hear me, Jensen?” the sound of Administrator Koeman’s voice rang around the command deck.
“I can hear you, Chief. Go ahead.”
“We’re detecting a bogey coming through Orion VIII’s orbit.” Silence followed from the other end of the commlink. “Jensen?”
“I’ve got no visual. But—” he eventually said before being cut off by Koeman.
“Can you make it back to the pod?” On the scanners, the pod was a hundred meters away from the satellite.
“That’s a negative. It’ll take too long—” Jensen’s voice cut out then returned. “Whoa.”
“Jensen? What do you see?”
Everyone on the command deck sat up in their seats with concern for the poor individual stuck out there all on his own.
“I—” Jensen paused. “This isn’t—”
Static screeched over the speakers. Ravith turned to Xi. “Ensign, what’s going on?”
Her hands ran up and down her console. She shook her head in frustration. “The commlink’s being jammed.”
“Commander!”
Ravith swiveled his head around to the sound of Lieutenant Sharma’s alarmed voice. “The satellite, sir!”
Ravith looked at the scanners. Both the pod and satellite disappeared.
They’re gone…
The bogey passed by Orion VIII and resumed its course. It was heading back toward Orion V.
“All hands to battle stations!” Ravith sent the command deck of the Vanguard into a frenzy. He turned to Ensign Xi. “I need a commlink to the captain, now!”
*
Decium Ore Mining Facility - Orion V
“Chief, incoming transmission from the Vanguard,” Aaron Bloch informed his superior from his console.
Administrator Koeman gave a curt nod to Captain Nicolas Marquez, allowing him to step toward the console. “Open the commlink.”
“This is Marquez. Go ahead, Vanguard.”
“Sir, what’s your situation down there?” It was the voice of his first officer, Commander Perera.
“With the destruction of the tracking satellite, we’re down to orbital scanners only.” Nicolas gazed at the blank monitor before him while Bloch activated the perimeter scanners. “Has the unidentified vessel resumed its course?”
“Yes, sir, it’s heading our way.”
“ETA?”
“Just under ten minutes. It’s moving like a bat out of hell.”
A chill ran down Nicolas’s spine. “Check the fleet register and see if there are any other vessels in the region. Also, check the Commonwealth Shipping Network for any civilian flight plans.” He knew it was a long shot, being out so far, but it was worth a look.
As Perera got the Vanguard’s best and brightest onto it, the incoming ship appeared on the facility’s scanners.
“That’s a negative on that, sir. No other ship within a light-year.”
What in the hell is that thing?
Nicolas had read reports that Marauders in the outer regions of the commonwealth had been getting more daring of late. But he thought it unlikely they’d attack a planet-based facility of Orion’s size. And even if it were Marauders, it wouldn’t explain the speed of the ship. Not even the Defense Force had vessels that moved that fast.
Koeman walked back over from an adjacent console. “I’ve instituted a facility-wide alert. Everyone’s been instructed to make their way to the evacuation shelters.” He frowned. “I’d tell you to get back in your pod and get the hell out of here, but you won’t have time.”
Nicolas couldn’t care less about himself at that moment, all he could care about was his ship.
And Susan…
*
UECS Vanguard
“Ensign Xi, open a commlink with the vessel,” Ravith ordered.
“Commlink open, sir.”
“Unidentified vessel, this is the UECS Vanguard at Orion V. Please identify yourself.”
Silence permeated around the command deck. “You are entering restricted UEC territory. You’ve already killed a commonwealth citizen and destroyed
one of our satellites. If you do not identify yourself, we’ll have no option but to assume hostile intent.”
More silence followed.
“Anything?” Ravith asked.
Xi shook her head.
“Repeat broadcasting.”
“Aye, sir.”
Ravith stared at the command station. Green lights flickered across the board. The relatively young crew had impressed him with how quickly they’d prepared.
He turned to Sharma. “How’s our team going in the torpedo bay?”
The lieutenant didn’t even have to check. “All forward tubes are loaded.” His console beeped. “Sir, the bogey’s coming into visual range.”
“Ensign Worthington, turn us away from the planet. I want to see what’s coming at us.”
With a touch of his console, the helmsman activated the thrusters and veered the Vanguard one-hundred and eighty degrees. Orion V disappeared from the viewport and was replaced with the dark depths of space.
As the blip got closer on the scanners, Ravith made out a speck in the center of the viewport until its shape formed.
An audible gasp spread around the command deck. The unidentified vessel slowed. It was huge. At least five times the size of the fleet’s largest carrier. Its four outstretched wings had jagged edges, while at the center there was a bulbous almond-shaped segment, which Ravith assumed was the ship’s command and habitat section.
Its color was black. A deep obsidian black. The image was haunting. Like something from a nightmare.
“What the hell is that thing?” he overheard someone say from the upper level.
Ravith wished he knew the answer.
The vessel continued to move, filling up the viewport. A rumble reverberated throughout the Vanguard as it strafed straight over the top of the hull, missing them by mere meters.
“It’s headed for the planet, sir,” Worthington said. “They passed us as if we weren’t even here.”
“The ship’s taking a geostationary orbit above the mining facility,” Sharma added.
Hell. “Ensign Worthington. Bring us around and follow them. Full thrusters,” Ravith instructed him.
“Aye, sir,” the helmsman shot back.
While the Vanguard circled, Ravith studied the scans of the foreign ship. It was unlike any design he’d seen. Who’d have the technology to build something like this?
The answer frightened him.
“Approaching the unidentified vessel,” Worthington said.
“Come to a full stop.”
The Vanguard came to a halt off the unidentified ship’s stern. The behemoth gazed at the planet ominously.
“Commander, look!” Worthington pointed at viewport.
Two green blasts burst forth from the ship’s wings and propelled down into the atmosphere of Orion V.
“The blasts have made a direct hit with the mining facility!” Sharma’s hands scrambled over his console.
Ravith gripped the edge of the command station, his knuckles whitening. “Ensign Xi, get me the captain!”
She shook her head. “I can’t get a commlink!”
“Then try again.”
“I can’t! We’re being jammed.”
The unidentified ship fired another pair of blasts. They tore through the planet’s atmosphere.
“Sharma, get me a firing solution.”
The lieutenant was way ahead of him. “You’ve got it, Commander.”
“Fire tubes one and two.”
Two torpedoes launched from the forward tubes of the Vanguard. They streamed across the abyss toward the hulking black mass of the ship ahead of them. The seconds felt like minutes for Ravith, watching the graphical representation of the torpedoes home in on their target.
Then they hit.
Everyone shielded their eyes from the explosion. As the blast dispersed, they looked up. The giant wing in the night hadn’t even budged.
“Did we do any damage at all?” Ravith asked.
The combat officer shook his head. “It doesn’t appear so, sir.” His eyes widened. “But I think we got their attention.”
The unidentified ship rotated and moved toward the Vanguard.
“Well, at least it stopped them firing on the surface.”
It hovered over them, eyeballing the smaller ship.
“I’m reading an energy buildup, sir,” Sharma said with worry in his voice. “They’re firing!”
Two bolts of energy discharged from the giant ship.
“Worthington, evasive maneuvers!” Ravith bellowed. “Everyone brace for impact!”
It happened so fast. The boom was deafening. The attack threw the Vanguard into a spin. The command deck lights extinguished, and Ravith tumbled against the rear bulkhead.
With a rub of his head, he peered around at the carnage. The command deck had been gutted. Everyone was either dead or unconscious, slumped over their consoles. In two shots they’d crippled one of the finest ships in the Commonwealth Defense Force within an inch of its life.
What kind of firepower is that?
Ravith looked up at the viewport and saw the unidentified ship continuing to draw closer. He hurried up the steps to the combat station. Sharma was coming around, but his face was severely cut. Perera grabbed the lieutenant by the shoulder.
“If anyone’s left in the torpedo bay, I need you to tell them to load a tritonium torpedo into any working tube.” It wasn’t a decision he took lightly. A tritonium warhead hadn’t been detonated since the end of the Earth-Centauri War and wasn’t to be used unless it was deemed absolutely necessary.
Sharma hesitated for a second before he alerted the torpedo control team below decks.
Ravith activated a commlink on the opposite station. “This is the UECS Vanguard in orbit of Orion V,” he said. “We are under attack by a vessel of unknown origin. We request immediate assistance. We—” The console went dead. Damn it. We’re being jammed.
“The torpedo is loaded and ready, sir.”
Ravith walked back over to Sharma and stared at the beast through the viewport. At this distance, the Vanguard would go up with them, but if it meant taking that thing out, they’d at least save a lot of people on the surface. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Fire!”
Chapter 2
Cargo Ship Argo
Jason stared back at himself. His eyes were bloodshot and his eyelids heavy. Above the mirror, the light flickered while the bulkhead gently vibrated. The Argo was shooting through the stars at FTL to deliver their consignment to the Tau-Zeta system. Frontier’s Reach was a distant memory.
He felt like hell. His bottle of bourbon sat next to the washbasin with only a few mouthfuls left. He eyed the reflection, hearing footsteps coming toward him. It was Althaus. His uncle detoured into the Argo’s communal bathroom and ignored Jason, stepping into one of the two toilet stalls.
Great… The last thing Jason wanted to listen to was Althaus taking a crap.
After a few minutes, the toilet flushed, and Althaus left the stall. He stepped up to the washbasin beside Jason and cleaned his hands. The pair locked eyes. Althaus peered at the bottle of bourbon. Without saying a word, he strode towards the door.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief.
“You had no right to do what you did, you know, right?” Althaus glared at him from the doorway.
“No right to do what?” Jason spun around, getting slightly dizzy. He now realized how drunk he was.
“You know very well.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “I’m not in the mood to play your games. If you’ve got something to say, then say it.”
“You shouldn’t be here.” Althaus stared daggers at him. “You should never have asked your brother to take you to Frontier’s Reach.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have.” Jason knew Althaus was right for a change.
“What did it get you? Nothing.”
Jason might have been drunk, but he knew Althaus was trying to get a reaction out of him, just like
he did when he was a kid. Bastard.
“I’m already feeling crappy. I don’t need you compounding the problem.”
“Too bad.” Althaus raised his fist. “You intended to leave your father before he died, and then walked out on your brother when he needed you the most. You don’t get to get away with this.”
Jason faced the mirror again. Althaus had stepped closer to him in the reflection.
“Don’t turn your back on me, kid!”
Kid? Althaus gave him that moniker when he was a child. Jason hated it then and hated it now. He took a long swig of his bourbon and slammed the bottle down on the edge of the washbasin.
Althaus smiled that ugly grin of his. “Look at you. You’re pathetic.”
“Piss off.”
“What was that?”
“You getting deaf in your old age?” Jason turned. It was now he who was getting the reaction.
Althaus took another step closer. “You’re just a delinquent. No better than that pimply-nosed teenager who turned his back on his family and ran off to the academy.”
Jason narrowed his eyes. “I fought for my planet.”
“And we’re so proud of you,” Althaus said sarcastically.
“At least I made something of myself. What’s your life comprised of? All you’ve ever done is ride on the coattails of your brother and then your nephew for the better part of forty years as a do-nothing cargo jockey.” Jason smiled. “You’re a loser, Althaus. And what really burns for you, is you know it.”
His uncle’s face reddened, and his fist clenched. Yep, that sure pissed him off. Jason had no time to react to the right hook that crunched into the side of his face. With one swing it sent him to the floor. Althaus might have been older, but the big mule could still pack a punch.
“Never forget your place, kid.” Althaus walked toward the door.
Kid…
Jason surprised himself by leaping up and running toward Althaus. He cannonballed into his back, sending them both sprawling into the corridor. Jason quickly reacted and spun Althaus around, landing several jabs to his head.