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  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. The Call of Destiny is the sixth 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

  THE CALL OF DESTINY

  FRONTIER’S REACH BOOK 6

  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

  Chapter 17

  Author’s Notes

  Connect with the Author

  Chapter 1

  March 12, 2182

  Galilei’s Third Moon

  Thirty-Two Years Earlier

  The smallest of Galilei’s three moons was harsh, barren, and majestic all rolled into one. Its surface was nothing but a dark-gray wasteland of dirt and dust. But underneath, with any luck it would hold the key to the commonwealth’s tritonium reserves for the next fifty years.

  “The Vandehaar Reserve? How does that sound? Got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

  Attwood shook his head and chuckled. “Do you seriously believe if we find tritonium on this lump of rock the company back home will name a patch of it after you?”

  “Well, they won’t name it after you.” He pointed across at their other colleague. “And they’re sure as hell not going to name it after Simkins.”

  “Just leave me out of this,” the more serious man told them.

  Lieutenant Jasmine Hoy rolled her eyes at the trio in their EV suits, standing by the tripod-shaped exploratory probe boring through the moon’s crust. She had to remind herself that these three were the most skilled tritonium excavators in the commonwealth. It takes all kinds.

  “What about you, Lieutenant? What do you reckon?” Vandehaar stared over at her expectantly.

  “I think we should do less playing around and more working.” She glanced at the chronometer on the wrist of her EV suit. “We have twenty-six minutes before we need to be back in the pod so the Galilei sun doesn’t burn us to a crisp.”

  “Don’t worry, Lieutenant. We’ll be out of here with plenty of time and hopefully a sample of tritonium to boot.”

  Jasmine wasn’t so sure. Though a scientist herself and initially upbeat about finding the valuable resource, she was losing hope. The UECS Perseverance had been in the Galilei system for two weeks and hadn’t found so much as a drop of the fuel needed to propel Earth’s ships beyond the speed of light.

  The discovery of the element on Triton jumpstarted the FTL age but had since become scarce in supply. The powers that be on Earth hoped Galilei would be the answer to their prayers. No one wanted to give up interstellar travel.

  Jasmine checked the time. “It’s getting late. Pack it up, gentlemen.”

  “We just need another few minutes!” Simkins fixed his attention on the lens of the exploratory probe scanning deep below the moon’s surface.

  He was usually the quieter of the three, but the higher inflection in his voice told Jasmine he was on to something. Vandehaar and Attwood seemed to be thinking similarly and ambled up behind him. Everyone stood in silence, waiting.

  Simkins then raised his head and turned to them. A broad grin appeared on his face. “How does the Simkins Reserve sound?”

  His colleagues’ mouths gaped open. They hooted and hollered while Jasmine brushed past them and peered down the probe’s lens. My god!

  “The geoprobe got a sample. It’s on its way up as we speak,” Simkins said.

  Once the subterranean gadget returned to the surface, they packed up their gear and bolted back to the transport pod. With barely a minute to spare, Jasmine gave Ensign Bregman the go-ahead to launch. In the rear cabin, she joined the drillers inspecting the geoprobe.

  Simkins pulled out the small rectangular sample container and placed it under the microscope. “After you, Lieutenant.”

  Jasmine walked over to the table and looked down the scope at the silver liquid. “Unbelievable.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Not only is this tritonium, but it’s more refined than anything ever extracted. This could pave the way for an FTL drive even faster than the Mark III.”

  A cork burst in the air behind her. She turned to find Vandehaar filling up a glass with bubbling champagne.

  “This calls for a celebration,” he said.

  He handed the glasses out, but Jasmine waved hers away. “Not while I’m on duty.”

  “Oh, come on, you know you want—”

  “Ensign Bregman to Lieutenant Hoy,” the pilot hailed over the intercom.

  She pressed the intercom next to the door. “What is it, Ensign?”

  “I’m picking up an object on our course back to the Perseverance.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

  She hurried from the rear cabin into the cockpit. Through the viewport on the backdrop of stars, there was indeed something ahead of them.

  As they neared, the shape took form. It was small and triangular with rounded edges, while its color was the shiniest of silvers.

  “It’s a craft,” Bregman observed on the scanners. “Maybe…”

  “Size and weight?” Jasmine asked.

  “Two meters in length and two-point-eight tons in weight.”

  “What is that?” Vandehaar arrived behind them, swinging the bottle of champagne like a lout while the others joined him in quick succession.

  “Seems too small to be a vessel.” Jasmine eyed the scanners. “Prepare a grapple. We’ll bring it back with us.”

  Once the unknown object was secured and the three drillers under control following the confiscation of their alcohol, Jasmine ordered the pod back to the ship.

  After the deck jockeys pressurized the hangar bay, the team departed and were joined by the Perseverance’s CO, Captain Lebeau.

  He stared at the present she’d brought back for him. “Lieutenant Hoy, I asked you to find me some tritonium. What in God’s name is this?”

  “A bonus. We found the tritonium.” She gestured toward the drillers unpacking the geoprobe from the rear of the transport pod. “But this thing…”

  She pulled a handheld scanner from her belt and waved it over the object. The readings br
ought up nothing. Against her better judgment, she put her hand on it.

  It was smooth. So smooth, in fact, her hand slid straight off it. “There doesn’t seem to be any markings.”

  “Get it to one of the science labs,” Lebeau said. “They can do a more detailed analysis.”

  She nodded and had the technicians from Science Lab Two take it away. For the next several hours she watched them do their scans with no luck, and eventually told them to call it a night. She took her own advice and headed to bed as well.

  With a warm milk and a read of the latest Connie Hardaway novel, she fell into slumber.

  *

  UECS Perseverance

  Jasmine’s eyes shot open. She rolled over and checked the time on her bedside table. Three in the morning?

  She usually slept like a log. I should go to the science lab…

  She threw her covers aside and walked out the door. In the corridor, she got some awkward stares from other members of the crew but continued on regardless. Down the elevator to deck three, she proceeded all the way to her destination.

  Technician Perkins glanced up from her data tablet with a furrowed brow. “Umm, Lieutenant, is there something I can do for you?”

  Jasmine’s mind was hazy. She peered down and blushed, noticing she was still in her silk pajamas. “I, uh…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” She didn’t know how to explain it. I’ve never sleepwalked in my life. It’s as if something summoned me here. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She turned toward the door but stopped when the console in front of Perkins sounded an alert. Jasmine gawked through the observation screen at the object they’d taken aboard.

  The craft unfolded like an origami crane being unraveled. Instead of a round-sided triangle, it now resembled an ovular nest.

  “My god!” Perkins blurted out at the readings on her station.

  Jasmine checked the data. “It’s…” She couldn’t put it into words. Instead, she opened the door and hurried into the lab. She gazed into the center of the object, and her mouth dropped.

  A baby no more than two and a half kilograms stared up at her. But it was unlike any she’d ever seen. Its skin was scaly with an almost golden hue. The torso was long and its facial features radically different to that of a human. It had large eyes, a small mouth, and tiny ears.

  Jasmine smiled at the creature. “And who are you, little one?” She reached in and picked up the infant whose eyes stared into her own.

  She understood some cultures believed children were the reincarnation of someone who’d already lived a full adult life and often wondered if that was why some babies appeared so wise when they were born.

  But this child was something else.

  A day earlier, everyone aboard the Perseverance had been tasked with finding a fuel to propel humanity to the stars. How things have changed.

  “Who knew the stars would come to us?”

  Chapter 2

  May 26, 2214

  Martian Tribune Building – Holden City, Mars

  Present Day

  Marissa Caldwell bounded out of the elevator and toward the reception desk of the main office. Janine’s eyes widened at the clock on the wall above her reception desk.

  “This is the third day this week you’ve been late. What gives?”

  She wasn’t being adversarial, but Marissa knew the receptionist suspected something was up. “A long story.”

  “If that man of yours is taking too much of your time, just send him to my place for the night.” She licked her lips. “Janine will straighten him out for you.”

  Marissa wondered if it might not be such a bad idea. “I’ll see what he says and get back to you.”

  Janine winked, and Marissa made her way into the bullpen where the Tribune’s employees had gathered at the far end watching something on the large wall monitor.

  She walked up to one of her colleagues. “What’s going on, Greg?”

  The older man didn’t flinch. “Seems the president’s making a special address.”

  On the monitor was an image of President Jarret’s lectern with the emblem of Caput Mundi House behind it. The camera panned around, showing the bustling media room of journalists waiting for him to arrive.

  It then quickly panned back at Patrick Ryland, Jarret’s media advisor, striding onto the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United Earth Commonwealth.”

  Ryland stepped aside, and President Jarret took his place at the center of attention. Behind him, an entourage followed. Among the ones Marissa recognized were his chief of staff, Ntini, Minister of Defense Takashi, head of the trans-space project, Professor Petit, and CDF Admiral of Operations, Mueller.

  “Earth has entered a new age,” Jarret began. “But that new age has presented us with challenges near and far. Fresh in our memories are the many fine men and women who lost their lives at Orion V. It was cold, calculated murder by a race of people who call themselves Seekers. A bloodthirsty species hell-bent on the destruction of all who stand in their way.

  “If it weren’t for the courageous acts of Commander Jason Cassidy and the crew of the Cargo Ship Argo destroying their superweapon, one can only wonder what predicament we might find ourselves in now.”

  Jarret paused and stared out amongst the journalists assembled. “I’ve talked to the families of every single man, woman, and child who lost their lives. To them I’ve promised justice. To them I’ve promised an explanation for why their loved ones perished.

  “That is why I’ve had Minister of Defense Takashi liaise with Admiral Mueller of the CDF to form an expeditionary force of a dozen vessels to find those answers. They will be equipped with our best diplomats and armed with our best soldiers.”

  The bullpen of the Martian Tribune became a hive of activity as the swathes of reporters hurried to their cubicles to begin work on stories and get in contact with their people on the inside.

  “Prior to the destruction of the Seeker vessels at Psi-Aion, one sent a message to a star a farther two hundred and eighty-three light-years away, in the Kappa-Magellan system. Our best experts don’t know whether it was a call to their home world, a base, or something else. I have the greatest faith that our expeditionary force will find out.”

  An impatient young reporter sprang forth from her seat with a raised hand. “How will the expeditionary force travel a journey of six hundred light-years with conventional FTL drives?”

  “That’s a great question. To answer it, I present Professor Petit of the Tokyo Institute of Advanced Sciences.”

  Jarret gave up the lectern, and Petit took his place.

  “With the technology my trans-space team has developed with the members of the Vladivostok Project on Luna, we’ve replicated the same trans-space corridors the Argo traveled through between Orion V and the Psi-Aion system.”

  Petit activated a holographic projector, and an image of a device appeared above him. “A piece of hardware known as Nora will be installed on the flagship of the expeditionary force to open a trans-space corridor, allowing them to travel twenty-seven thousand times the speed of light. Six hundred and seventy-five times faster than our most advanced FTL drive.”

  The press conference continued for another hour where Admiral Mueller detailed the makeup of the expeditionary force and the coming weeks of war games to sharpen the crew’s skills.

  At its end, the last of the stragglers still listening at the Tribune raced back to their cubicles. Marissa logged on to her computer, knowing she was in for a long day.

  *

  CDF Headquarters – Miami, Earth

  Jason Cassidy rubbed his clammy hands against his knees. When Captain Shila gave him her blessing to see Admiral Mueller, he realized he wouldn’t be in for an easy time.

  Outside the admiral’s office, the lieutenant behind the reception desk continued to look up from her work and stare at him. If it weren’t for his situation, Jason would normally walk over and give her his commband number. Hell, wh
en has that ever mattered?

  He stood and stepped toward her, but before he could reach the desk, a hand touched his shoulder. “Admiral Foster!”

  His old mentor smiled. “Welcome, Commander. They told me you have an appointment with Admiral Mueller. Presumptuous, aren’t we?”

  Jason realized Foster was joking with him. “I’m surprised she took my call at all.”

  Foster chuckled. “Come on, she’s ready for you.”

  As he followed the admiral through, Jason winked at the lieutenant behind the reception desk. From inside, Admiral Mueller caught him in the act. She raised an eyebrow and stirred her coffee, not breaking eye contact with him.

  Foster, not having seen anything, escorted him to the chairs at the front of the desk, and they both sat.

  “Why are you here, Commander?” Mueller asked, getting straight to the point.

  “I want to thank you for seeing—”

  “Commander Cassidy, as you could well imagine, I’m a very busy woman. Captain Shila conveyed to me you wished to have a meeting. If it was anyone else, I would’ve told them to follow the chain of command. Luckily for you, I’m a kind and generous person.”

  Jason did his best not to laugh, not sure whether Mueller was joking or not. “Well, umm, the reason I’m here is to discuss the upcoming mission. The expeditionary force.”

  “And?”

  “Well, umm.” He stopped and stared at Foster whose eyes directed him to get on with it. Jason only had one shot at this. “Admiral, I’m here to tell you how certifiably nuts this idea is.”

  Mueller didn’t break her gaze with him.

  “No one else in the CDF has dealt with the Seekers. And while it appears I’ve been brought back into the service as a glorified poster boy to bring in new recruits, it wouldn’t hurt the brass to hear my advice.”