Infinitys end books 7 9, p.1
Infinity's End: Books 7-9, page 1
INFINITY’S END – BOOKS 7 - 9
Copyright © 2021 by Eric C. Warren All rights reserved.
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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Content Editor Tiffany Shand www.eclipseediting.com
Contents
Also by Eric Warren
Get the Origin Story!
BROKEN LINKS
Prologue
Untitled
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
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Broken Links Map Piece
Broken Links Map Key
MEMORY’S BLADE
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
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Memory’s Blade Map Piece
Memory’s Blade Map Key
INFINITY’S END
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
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
Known Space…
Glossary
The Adventure Continues…
A NEBULOUS CRIME SNEAK PREVIEW
About the Author
Also by Eric Warren
The Sovereign Coalition Universe
INFINITY’S END SAGA
Novels
CASPIAN’S FORTUNE (BOOK 1)
TEMPEST RISING (BOOK 2)
DARKEST REACH (BOOK 3)
JOURNEY’S EDGE (BOOK 4)
SECRETS PAST (BOOK 5)
PLANETFALL (BOOK 6)
BROKEN LINKS (BOOK 7)
MEMORY’S BLADE (BOOK 8)
INFINITY’S END (BOOK 9)
Short Stories
CASPIAN’S GAMBIT: An Infinity’s End Story
SOON’S FOLLY: An Infinity’s End Story
Collections
INFINITY’S END BOOKS 1-3
INFINITY’S END BOOKS 4-6
INFINITY’S END BOOKS 7-9
STELLAR OUTLAW SERIES
Novels
A NEBULOUS CRIME - BOOK 1
THE PLANETARY CON - BOOK 2
A GALACTIC BLIND - BOOK 3
A COSMIC STING - BOOK 4
THE ASTRONOMICAL HEIST - BOOK 5
THE UNIVERSAL THEFT - BOOK 6
Short Stories
ESTABLISHMENT PROTOCOL
Get the Origin Story!
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Go to www.ericwarrenauthor.com to download
CASPIAN’S GAMBIT!
BROKEN LINKS
Prologue
“I’m hearing disturbing reports, Admiral.”
Fleet Admiral Arden Dix glanced up just as the lanky form of Zyrr Phax strode into his office as if it were her own, taking a seat without invitation and staring at him with her six, bulbous speckled eyes. Because she ran the Coalition’s media division he was used to her brashness, but the way she could command the attention of a room just by walking into it never surprised him. Dix returned his attention to the latest reports scrolling across his screen, sure they were the very same reports she was speaking of.
“Pleasure to see you as always, Zyrr. How’s the family?”
She clicked her small tongue in what he’d come to understand a form of amusement by the Yax-Inax. She folded two of her arms across her chest while the other two brushed errant particles of dirt off her long skirt. “Very funny. Less than an hour before the biggest story of the season is about to run and I receive notice it’s been pulled due to executive order. Care to tell me why?”
A grin pulled at the edge of Dix’s mouth. “I don’t owe you an explanation. Or anyone else for that matter. You are not to run any stories on the reported loss of the USCS Tempest. And that’s the end of it.”
She made the imitation of a chuckle, but it died in her throat. “I don’t think you understand. That ship and her mission has become the stuff of legend. People have built their lives around our news releases; there are fan groups, meetups, conferences, conspiracy theories—all of it. At the head: me and my team feeding the public a well-crafted and carefully moderated set of facts every single day to give them something to feast upon. Do you know what’s going to happen when we run the dailies without mentioning the ship?”
“Let me guess.” Dix turned his eyes to her again. “Pandemonium.”
“Now you’re just being an ass.” Zyrr uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. “Ever since that ship left Coalition space for parts unknown it has become a staple of the public consciousness. People have the right to know what’s going on.” She smiled, correcting herself. “At least, they have a right to know what we tell them is going on.”
Dix exhaled, staring at the woman who had been head of the Coalition-sponsored news outlets for the past fifteen years. She’d always been a rogue, taking matters into her own hands when it suited her. But she also had great instincts about what needed to be said and what didn’t. When the whole mess with the Achlys occurred, she was the first one to come out against telling the public the truth, and she’d been right. There were some things people didn’t need to know about. Things that would undermine the trust they’d put into the system. And as long as she was willing to work hand-in-hand with the military to keep the stories flowing, all was good. But they’d run into a roadblock; one Dix wasn’t keen to try and remove.
“Fine.” He sighed. “If you must know the truth it’s our Sil visitor. Ever since we lost contact with the ship, she’s been growing more and more anxious out on Starbase Eight. Sanghvi tells me she’s refusing to help us any further until either the ship returns, or we regain contact.”
“And that concerns me how?” Phax said.
“Because guess who is a regular consumer of Coalition news programs? And when she caught word of a certain ship traveling an impossible distance in a short amount of time, she managed to put two and two together. A story I didn’t authorize if you’ll recall.” He narrowed his eyes.
Phax sat back again, huffing. “Shit. How much does she know?”
“Sanghvi promised to keep her in the loop, but he and I had decided it was best not to allow her too much information, at least until we were more comfortable with her motivations. Her singular focus was su pposed to be developing defenses for Andromeda, but that’s all out the airlock now.” The Andromeda threat had been the whole reason Dix had approved Tempest to head to Sil space in the first place. And it had paid off thus far. In the few seasons since arriving to Starbase Eight, Mil’less had helped to improve their defensive technology by almost ten percent. She had managed to work with not only humans, but many Coalition species to develop the technologies they would need to defeat the threat. Then Andromeda had just—disappeared, and Tempest had covered a distance of six-hundred light-years in five days. A trip that had should have taken them almost a year. Information they’d managed to keep under wraps until Phax’s story had broken two days ago.
“Look. People are getting restless; I had to give them something. We’ve had no news from the ship in almost a season. It’s important to keep the public interest.”
“You mean it’s important to keep them foaming at the mouth.” Dix stood. “All for what, Zyrr? Ratings? Accolades?”
“Don’t start in on me with that,” she replied. “You’re just as complicit as I am here. I may have run the story, but you authorized the mission. You brought the Sil into our midst. I can’t even imagine the chaos the one on Tempest is causing.” Her eyes went glassy and she dropped her voice. “I knew I should have stationed a news crew on that ship before she left.”
“The point is,” Dix continued, “to try and salvage this relationship, no more about Tempest until we hear from them and she can talk to her counterpart on that ship. She thinks our people captured the other one and tortured her until she revealed Sil secrets. It hasn’t occurred to her the other Sil might have given up that information willingly.”
“Did she?” Phax asked, her six eyes wide.
“That’s what Greene’s last report to Starbase Five seemed to indicate. But we don’t have confirmation. And you know how those people are, the evidence has to be rock-solid before they’ll accept it.”
“It seems to me there’s a very simple solution to all this.” Dix didn’t prompt her to continue, but she did anyway. “Lock her up and don’t allow her access to any more news programs.” Phax stood.
“You can’t be serious.”
“What do we need her for anymore? Andromeda is gone—whatever Tempest did, worked. That was the only reason she was here. Send her back to Sil space and let me do my job for the people I actually care about.”
Dix shook his head. “I’m glad you’re head of media and not operations. Because you have no concept about the term diplomatic incident.”
“Oh, please,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “What are the Sil going to do? They didn’t come after us when we captured one of their ships and ejected the crew into space, I doubt they’ll make a fuss over two more. It’s like Robeaux told us in the hearing, they just don’t care that much.”
Admiral Dix sighed again. This woman. “Still. It’s too hot right now. Hold off for a few days before any more Tempest updates.”
“You say that like you have a say in the matter,” Phax replied, her voice having gone cold. “I’ll run what I deem the public needs to hear. And that’s the end of it.”
Dix felt his face reddening. “That’s not the end of it. Under no circumstances are you to run that story. Do I make myself clear?”
Phax regarded him for a moment before turning her back on him. “Very well. Perhaps the public would be much more interested in a different tale. A much more sordid story about a former Admiral named Rutledge and a ship named Achlys.”
Dix’s heart skipped a beat. He placed his hands on his desk and leaned forward. “Don’t you threaten me, Zyrr. You would not like the outcome.”
She turned back to him, a grin on her face. “You do what you have to, Arden.” She reached up with one of her long arms and stroked the side of his cheek. Her hand felt cold and smooth to the touch, but he didn’t bat it away. “Just remember I have eyes everywhere. There’s very little that happens in the Coalition I don’t see.” She spun and left through the automatic doors without another word.
Dix tapped the comm on the back of his hand. “Get in here.”
The doors opened again to reveal a man with porcelain skin and light blonde hair that had been pulled tight into a ponytail, and dropped just below his collar. His dark eyes contrasted with his pale skin and hair; Dix often thought his face resembled a skull. He didn’t say a word, only stood in front of Dix’s desk.
“There’s going to be a communications blackout in an hour,” Dix said, taking his seat and returning his attention to the reports on the screen. “I don’t want it to be permanent, do you understand?”
The man nodded, then left the office, leaving Dix alone with his thoughts. Damn Zyrr. This was the first time she’d openly opposed him. Hopefully for her sake it would be the last.
Her timing couldn’t have been any more serendipitous. Just as she’d walked in, he’d been going over the most recent telescopic scans from Starbase Five. It had been fifty-six days since they’d heard from Tempest. And not more than a day after they lost contact with the ship, the entire Andromeda fleet had disappeared from all their scanners with not another word since. Dix wasn’t sure if Greene was a strategic or diplomatic genius but at this point he didn’t care. They’d managed to do the impossible and stop the alien fleet in their tracks. Now if they could just figure out what had happened to Tempest itself. He couldn’t understand why the ship hadn’t just come back the same way they’d gone out there. He’d even considered sending a rescue vessel to meet them halfway but had decided to hold off until they knew more. It was possible whatever plan Greene had enacted could have potentially destroyed the ship, despite the fact they hadn’t detected any explosions. Ever since the fleet disappeared, they hadn’t detected anything, except background radiation. The entire region had gone quiet.
Dix stood. The whole encounter with Phax had put him off and he needed some fresh air. He left his office, nodding to his assistant in the adjacent lobby before emerging into the glass atrium that made up this part of Coalition Central. Horus shone down through the glass with its warmth and he longed to feel the heat on his skin before he had to meet with the joint commanders about this Sil situation. Perhaps Phax was right, how bad would it be if they did just lock her up and ship her back to her people? Or better yet, he could have some of his people fabricate something that showed the Tempest had been destroyed. They’d have to be careful, but they might be able to pull it off. Then she’d go back home on her own.
Dix emerged into the sunlight, relishing the warm breeze as it blew across the bay. Before him New Phoenix canvassed the valley all the way to the blue ocean. The city was one of the oldest and most influential in the Coalition, and of course the seat of Coalition Central itself, with the compound taking up almost thirty square kilometers around the Bay of Chiron that began deep inland, then fed into the ocean. It was a beautiful, old city and yet it still felt as new as the day humans first settled the area. Dix glanced up to see both Neith and Pakhet hanging above him, their twin white crescents barely visible in the deep blue of the sky. He couldn’t fathom how any human would choose not to live here; to be stuck in the depths of a ship or on some other alien world, never experiencing the daily wonders of Earth. As Dix stood, breathing in the fresh air with just a tinge of saltwater he thought maybe he’d been too hard on Phax. She was ambitious, determined and the best director of communications the Coalition had ever seen. She’d managed to keep public opinion on their side this long, perhaps he should trust her judgment.
