Orion's Dawn: A Gritty Space Opera Adventure (Frontier's Reach Book 1) Read online

  Copyright © 2019 Robert C. James

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission

  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. Orion’s Dawn is the first 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

  ORION’S DAWN

  FRONTIER’S REACH BOOK 1

  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

  June 24, 2209

  UECS Raptor

  Three years. Forty million dead. Unparalleled destruction. Who knew one of the most catastrophic wars mankind had ever waged would end on the backdrop of such beauty?

  As Lieutenant Jason Cassidy walked onto the command deck of the UECS Raptor, the colors of the great nebula mesmerized him. Its official designation was Nebula TPA-338. It wasn’t a fitting name for something of such artistry. The blues, greens, yellows, and reds of the gaseous emission nebula created a spectacular display that showed just what the universe offered beyond the small blue jewel of Earth.

  “Are you just going to stand there?”

  Jason snapped out of his trance-like state at the deep voice of the Raptor’s Chief-of-the-Boat, Chief Lin, who stepped from the hatchway beside him.

  “You better get to the helm, sir,” Lin said to him with a wry grin.

  Jason shared a smile with the chief then walked along the circular upper deck of the Raptor’s command center to take a seat at his station. To his left, the Raptor’s navigator, Lieutenant Christian Nash, was looking at him expectantly.

  “You took your time,” Nash said. “Usually it’s you who beats me up here.”

  Jason opened his mouth to say something, but Nash beat him to the punch.

  “Not Ensign Robinson again?”

  Jason tried to hide his smile. “Well—”

  “I knew it! You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” Nash read Jason like a book.

  The pair had gone to the academy together and graduated just as the Earth-Centauri War began. They’d risen through the ranks and had become the best of friends.

  “She’s nice.” While Jason saw nothing long-lasting coming out of the relationship, they were a comfort for each other in a dark time.

  “She also has a fiancé back on Cerberus,” Nash pointed out.

  “You know what they say about different ZIP codes?”

  Nash chuckled as Commander Riggs broke up their childish conversation.

  “Lieutenant Nash, how long until we’re within weapons range?” the Raptor’s first officer asked from the pit, below the upper level of the command deck.

  “Four minutes, Commander.”

  “And what’s their ETA to the outer edge of the nebula?”

  “Twelve minutes. We’ll reach them well before they get there.”

  Jason looked down at his monitor at the ship they were pursuing. A Foulke-Class freighter. It’s designation: SS Bombay. He smiled. The Bombay wasn’t just any ship. It represented the end of a conflict.

  While the Earth-Centauri War had officially ended five months earlier, a task force had been put together to hunt down the remaining civilian and military leaders of the Centauri Rebellion. The Raptor had been tasked with spearheading the mission. So, while the bulk of the force’s servicemen and women could get the rest they deserved, the war raged on for the crew of the Raptor.

  Five hundred rebels had been tracked down in the months since the surrender. But one had been the most elusive. Doctor Benjamin Tyrell was a minor player in the rebellion war effort, but one deemed extremely dangerous with orders to kill on sight. Jason often wondered what the man had done that didn’t justify bringing him to trial. Tyrell’s official file had been sealed tight. None but those at the very top of the United Earth Commonwealth and the Defense Force would ever know his real story.

  “Lieutenant Ortega, when we’re within range I want a firing solution on the Bombay.”

  Jason looked into the command pit. The steely gaze of the Raptor’s commanding officer, Captain Pizzeri, connected with the ship’s combat officer. Lieutenant David Ortega nodded at the ‘old man’.

  “Sir, the Bombay is trying to open a commlink,” came the voice of Ensign Kennebeck from the communications station on the opposite of the command deck.

  “Block the link,” Riggs said to her. Along with a prompt destruction order, under no circumstances were there to be any communications.

  “Commlink blocked.”

  “Two minutes until weapons range,” Ortega noted.

  “So, what are you going to do with your furlough when we get back home?” Nash whispered to Jason.

  That remained a question Jason hadn’t asked himself. He didn’t know where home was anymore. The service was now all he knew.

  “Perhaps you could take Ensign Robinson to Lake Osiris on Cerberus. I think that’s where her fiancé proposed to her.”

  “Ha-ha.” Jason rolled his eyes, returning his attention to his monitor. A new bogey on the scanners.

  Ortega had seen it first. “Sir!” he said. “The Bombay has launched a torpedo. It’s armed with a tritonium warhead!”

  Jason didn’t wait for the captain’s order. He slowed the forward trajectory of the Raptor and turned hard to port, showing the destroyer’s well-shielded underbelly to take the brunt of the fire. The maneuver churned the bottom of his stomach, even with the artificial gravity masking the worst of the g-forces.

  Then the explosion struck. White light filled the command deck as the warhead exploded before them. The blast threw the Raptor off its axis and sent her into a spin. Jason grabbed hold of his console, doing his best not to launch from his seat. The Raptor’s hull squealed, bending and twisting from the blast. Sparks flew, and lights flickered.

  The last thing Jason remembered was the helm console exploding in his face.

  *

  “Cassidy!”

  His eyes slowly opened, and s
ome light appeared through the blurriness.

  “Cassidy, can you hear me?”

  The voice was unmistakable. “Nash…” Jason blinked, allowing his vision to get used to the light above the concerned face of his friend.

  “Where… How?” Jason stuttered.

  Nash dragged him to his feet and sat him in his chair in front of the helm. His console was burned to a crisp. It all came back to him. He touched his face.

  “That would explain why my head feels numb.”

  “You were lucky.” Nash inspected him closely. “Doesn’t seem like any major damage to that face of yours. Ensign Robinson will be pleased.”

  Jason ignored him. “What the hell happened to us?”

  “The Bombay detonated a tritonium torpedo off our bow,” Nash said to him.

  “Off our bow? It didn’t hit us?”

  “No.”

  Jason couldn’t make sense of it. “It’s as if they didn’t want to destroy us.”

  Nash nodded in agreement. “It did enough damage. When you were knocked out, I transferred the helm to my station and brought the ship back to equilibrium.”

  Jason surveyed the command deck. A team of medics had arrived from the Sickbay. One came up to him and sprayed a healing agent on the gashes and burns on his face. After waving the medic away, he peered down into the command pit. He immediately leaped from his seat at the scene of destruction.

  The fallen ceiling had crushed the central command station at the center of the pit. Beams, cables, and twisted metal sat in a pile. On the other side of that pile were four medics and Chief Lin. Jason rushed down there. He watched the medics put sheets over the bodies of Captain Pizzeri and Commander Riggs.

  Chief Lin stopped him before he could reach them. The numbness of Jason’s face now ran down his body with the realization hitting him. “I’m in command.”

  Lin nodded, clearly doing his best not to show any emotion. “Yes.”

  Everyone around the command deck stared at him. He gazed at his two fallen superiors while the medics put them on their own separate stretchers and walked them off the command deck through the hatchway.

  Lin grabbed him by the arm. “We can mourn the fallen later,” he said. “Now it’s time to finish what we started.”

  It was sage advice as usual. Jason straightened his back, cleared his throat, and turned to Ensign Kennebeck, who seemed more than a little flustered.

  “Ensign, damage report.”

  She waved away a blonde lock of hair. “Propulsion and weapons are down. Three decks are crippled, but emergency bulkheads are holding. Damage control teams are en route to all pertinent areas of the ship.”

  “Casualties?”

  She did a double take on her monitor, doing her best to keep her composure. “Current projections are at least twenty people.”

  Jason closed his eyes. Grieve later. He reopened them and turned to Ortega. “What about the Bombay?”

  “They’re still on the same course. Heading straight for the nebula. They’ll enter the outer layer in four minutes.”

  “It got them the time they needed.” The realization hit Jason all at once.

  Lin raised an eyebrow as if a lightbulb went on in his head. “The torpedo. Tyrell didn’t want to destroy us, he wanted to give himself time to escape.”

  Jason couldn’t answer why someone from the Centauri rebellion wouldn’t want to destroy their enemy. It was a question for another day.

  “If they enter that nebula, we’ll lose him,” Nash said from the upper level.

  Jason had already studied TPA-338’s profile knowing it was impervious to scans. Once an object entered the nebula, they’d be unable to find it. And considering it measured three light-years across, it was a great hiding place.

  “Then we won’t let him get away.”

  Nash and Lin looked at each other. “What plan are you cooking up, Cassidy?” Lin asked.

  Without answering, Jason hurried up the steps to the upper level and activated the ship’s intercom on Ortega’s console. “Cassidy to Hangar Deck.”

  Over the din of activity, the Raptor’s gruff but loveable deck chief responded. “Howe here. Go ahead.”

  “What’s your situation down there?”

  “We took a hell of a beating—”

  “Is the hangar door still operational?”

  “It’s one of the few things down here that does work.”

  “What about a pod?”

  There was a brief silence. “Most of them were thrown around down here when we were hit with the shock wave. But I can probably rustle one together for you.”

  “Thank you, Chief. Make it quick. I’ll be down soon. Cassidy out.”

  On the scanners the Bombay was moving ever closer to the outer layer of the nebula. Jason would have to be quick.

  “You’re going after him in a pod?” Nash said incredulously. “Your scanners won’t work. You’ll be blind as a bat in there.”

  Jason tried not to roll his eyes at Nash stating the obvious. “You’re right, but with any luck, considering how dense that nebula is, the Bombay should create a wake in its path.”

  Lin smiled. “Like an old ship on one of Earth’s oceans.”

  “Exactly.”

  Nash shook his head. “It’s risky.”

  Jason couldn’t argue with that. “Yes, but they’ll be just as blind as me. If I can find the Bombay, I’ll be able to attach a homing beacon on their hull. When they come up for air, whether it be tomorrow, next week, or next month, we’ll have their position. That is unless you have any other ideas.”

  His friend brushed sweat from his brow and shook his head. “I guess it’s our best bet.”

  “There is one problem,” Lin remarked.

  “Oh?” Jason turned to the chief.

  “The pilot of the pod,” he whispered. “It can’t be you.”

  “But—”

  “We’ve lost our commanding officer and XO, we can’t afford to lose our second officer as well.”

  Jason hadn’t even considered it. It was his plan. His life to risk. He’d never had to make the decision to send anyone in his place before. And, frankly, didn’t want to start now.

  “It has to be me,” Nash said.

  Jason turned to him. He especially didn’t want to send his best friend.

  Lin nodded. “He’s right. He’s the next most senior pilot.”

  Jason thought about fighting it. He was, after all, in command, but Lin was also right. He was always right. The commanding officer needed to be on the command deck of his ship. And they couldn’t give Tyrell any more of a head start.

  He turned to Nash, his eyes piercing his friend’s. “Go get the bastard.”

  It’d been over an hour since Nash had left the Raptor and entered Nebula TPA-338. With the command station a wreck, Jason had transferred all command functions to the navigation station. He paced the upper level, occasionally eyeing the scanners. He wasn’t looking at anything in particular. With Nash’s pod inside the nebula, their scanners were useless. But it somehow felt like he was doing something.

  While Captain Pizzeri had discussed Jason’s willingness for a pathway for command after the war, it was now the furthest thing from his mind. He just wished he could be in that pod, in his friend’s place.

  “Lieutenant,” Kennebeck said, “I’m getting a commlink from inside the nebula.”

  “Nash?”

  She nodded.

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Nash… Raptor… in.”

  Jason breathed a sigh of relief along with everyone else on the command deck. It was good to hear his voice even if the commlink was riddled with interference.

  “Can you clean that up?” Jason asked.

  Kennebeck nodded and ran her hands over her console.

  “Can you read us, Nash?”

  “Loud and clear. Mostly,” came Nash’s voice. The transmission was stronger, but there was still a lot of static.

  “Report.”

&nbs
p; “I’ve been able to follow the Bombay’s wake; the farther I go in, the less it’s dispersing.”

  Jason liked the sound of that. “You must be getting close.”

  “Agreed.” The static crackled again. “I…”

  There was silence. Jason turned to Kennebeck. “What now?”

  Her eyes narrowed at the readings before her. “I don’t know. It’s as if something else is interfering with the commlink.” Lin came up behind her and studied her monitor.

  Jason turned to Ortega. “Can you trace it?”

  The combat officer looked at his station and shook his head.

  “Nash, have you found the Bombay?” Jason asked.

  There was more silence. Then something came through. “I’ve found—”

  A loud boom cut off Nash’s voice. No static. Just silence.

  “What the hell?” Jason’s eyes darted to the forward viewport. Light and gas blasted outward from the nebula. Everyone on the command deck fell silent watching the debris disperse from the focal point.

  Ortega prodded at his console and magnified an image of a large chunk of debris. There could be no doubt what it was. On its side, it read: POD-3.

  Nash’s pod…

  The debris danced against the gaseous backdrop. Jason’s mind seemed to leave his body. His mouth quivered with realization.

  You son of a bitch, Nash. You son of a bitch.

  Chapter 2

  August 1, 2212

  Decium Ore Mining Facility - Orion V

  Erik Koeman looked out of the large viewport over the mysterious landscape of Orion V. With its dim singular celestial satellite, the majority of light that reached the surface was that of the Orion sun. The lengthy shadows of the rocky mountain ranges created an eerie scene.

  At the edge of the horizon, a massive front of wind pushed up the fine dark dirt on the almost tarmac-like surface. He’d been on Orion V long enough to know a storm was brewing. Whenever the lightning struck and the tornadoes twisted, he couldn’t help but think of home. When was the last time I was in Kansas?