Race rivalry gate ghosts.., p.1
Race Rivalry (Gate Ghosts Book 3), page 1
RACE RIVALRY
Gate Ghosts Book 3
S. H. JUCHA
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2022 by S. H. Jucha
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Published by Hannon Books, Inc.
www.scottjucha.com
ISBN: 978-1-7375537-2-4 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-1-7375537-3-1 (softcover)
First Edition: January 2022
Cover Design: Damon Za
Acknowledgments
Race Rivalry is the third novel in the Gate Ghosts series, which relates the stories of the descendants of Earth’s fourth colony ship.
I wish to extend a special thanks to my independent editor, Joni Wilson, whose efforts enabled the finished product. To my proofreaders, Abiola Streete, David Melvin, Ron Critchfield, Pat Bailey, Tiffany Crutchfield, and Jwayne, I offer my sincere thanks for their support.
Despite the assistance I’ve received from others, all errors are mine.
Glossary
A glossary is located at the end of the book.
Contents
1: Conglomerate
2: Anomaly’s Surprise
3: Harlyn’s Message
4: Ceda’s Thoughts
5: Hacker Hunt
6: Julien
7: Nira’s Offer
8: Samuel’s Phase Two
9: Phase Three
10: An Unlikely Visitor
11: Lisa’s Tour
12: Teaching Moments
13: Dome Foundations
14: Lazama’s Revenge
15: Deadly Encounter
16: Vivian’s Reflection
17: Disruptions
18: Samuel’s Fate
19: Council’s Surprise
20: Evolve or Devolve
21: Clone Demands
22: Reflection’s View
23: Who’s Signaling?
24: Upgrades
25: Imperium Appointees
26: Numerals
27: Story Time
28: Nira’s Gifts
29: Repair Intimidation
30: Reflection’s Return
31: Vortex Mysteries
32: Alien Probe
33: Densing Detection
34: Double Trouble
35: Jubilation
Glossary
My Books
The Author
1: Conglomerate
KILMER, DAIMLER SYSTEM
PURE POUR PLANET
“We’re listening,” Miriamal said. She and other Beta One sisters had sailed to Kilmer aboard the Dominance to hear the requests of the assembled chairpersons.
At Miriamal’s invitation, Chairpersons Lisa Dyehouse, Karl Denham, and Frank Allbers had joined the sisters aboard their ship.
“We’re loath to make the announcements you request about the conglomerate’s formation and the alliance of our three mining worlds with your sisters,” Lisa said.
Helena replied.
Using a human gesture, Miriamal spread her hands to Lisa to indicate the chairperson should continue.
“The conglomerate’s purpose is expansion, but there aren’t many known wormholes left to explore,” Lisa said. “The most promising one is located close to this system. An investigation by your ship should quickly inform us of the worthiness of our enterprise.”
“If we discover a suitable system to exploit, we’ll expect the twin announcements to be made immediately,” Miriamal said.
“Understood and agreed,” Lisa replied.
“The journey will be swift through the anomaly,” Miriamal said. “However, we’ll rely on passive data accumulation. That will require time.”
“You can reposition your ship through space extremely quickly,” Karl pointed out. “Why not move it close to any system you spot? That would severely decrease the monitoring time, wouldn’t it?”
The sisters were careful to limit their vocal responses to the humans to soft chuckles. Whereas, they’d sent jangling and clashing sounds to one another.
“We didn’t expect to discover your race when we exited the Satchel anomaly,” Helena replied. “Humans in this area of space have believed they were alone for many centuries, but the galaxy is crowded with hundreds of races. Traveling via the anomalies presents an increased possibility of discovering other races. It pays to be careful.”
What Helena didn’t say was that the Omnians had encountered many a well-armed and dangerous race, and the sisters were ill-prepared to handle contentious encounters.
“Can you estimate the amount of time the journey would take you?” Frank asked.
“Why are you inquiring about the length of time that we’ll be gone?” Miriamal asked. Rather than focus on Frank, she directed her question to Lisa.
“We wish to sail with you,” Lisa replied.
“We would hear why that’s important to you,” Helena said. To Lisa’s querying frown, she replied, “It’s not that you wouldn’t be welcome aboard the Dominance, but we wish to understand your motivation.”
“We’ll be risking our companies and our personal livelihood,” Lisa replied. “Much depends on what you find. We want to witness the discoveries not just watch imagery that you might record.”
Helena commented to Miriamal and Galena.
“Are you prepared to sail?” Miriamal inquired.
“We’ll be ready tomorrow morning,” Lisa replied.
“Then Helena will escort you to the bay and return you planetside,” Miriamal said. She offered her hand to the chairpersons, and then Galena and she swiftly exited the conference room.
On Kilmer, the humans were deposited in the landing pad’s engineering bay airlock, and the sisters returned to their traveler. The chairpersons kept quiet until they reached Lisa’s apartment.
“I’ll never get used to walking on the surface,” Frank opined, as he settled into a comfortable chair, and Lisa served hot caf.
“What do you think the sisters thought of our request?” Karl asked Lisa.
“I think they took it for how it was meant,” Lisa replied.
“That we don’t trust them,” Frank sought to confirm.
“I’m sure that there was that aspect in their thoughts,” Lisa replied, “but now they know that we want a close relationship. As Miriamal noted, trust will come with actions that prove intent.”
“What will determine whether we go forward with the conglomerate?” Frank asked.
“What is it you want to say, Frank?” Karl queried.
“I’m wondering what size of discovery will warrant us announcing our alliance with the sisters and throwing our race into subjugation,” Frank replied.
“Interesting way of phrasing your concern,” Karl remarked. “Are you having second thoughts?”
“No,” Frank replied adamantly. “I’m pointing out to both of you that initiation of the conglomerate requires something substantial.”
“I’m in agreement with that,” Lisa replied, sipping deeply on her caf. “That’s one of the reasons I wanted to sail with the sisters. They’ll be viewing the systems and the worlds on the wormhole’s far side for their needs. We need to be doing the same thing.”
The following morning, the chairpersons repeated the previous day’s exercise. They met the sisters in the engineering bay, donned their environment suits, and exited the bay for the airless surface.
As Lisa crossed the airless space to the waiting traveler in the company of a sister, she was reminded of Frank’s comment about walking on the surface. She disliked exiting the comfort and safety of the domes. No thought was given to the miners who toiled deep under the domes and risked exposure to myriad tunnel disasters.
Exiting the Dominance’s bay, the chairpersons were surprised to be taken by Galena on a new route upward in the ship.
“Where are we going?” Karl inquired.
“To medical,” Galena replied. “Some humans are susceptible to our transits in and out of the dark. We’ve a means of relieving their pain.”
The chairpersons halted and stared at Galena.
“How do you relieve the pain?” Frank asked. His voice trembled.
“I assure you that t
Frank nervously regarded his companions.
“You’ve two other options,” Galena offered. “You may suffer debilitating discomfort for the period of time that we’re within the dark, or you may return planetside.”
“Get a grip, Frank,” Karl said. “Lead on, Galena.”
Galena exited the lift and continued down the corridor. Her rearward sensors monitored Chairperson Allbers, who stood rooted in place. Before the trio entered the medical suite, she saw the lagging chairperson shudder and hurry to catch up.
Three sisters directed the chairpersons to lie on tables. Then Galena communicated to Miriamal that the humans were ready to transit.
Helena had already launched the Dominance high above the Daimler ecliptic. The ship was oriented toward the unexplored anomaly.
In the medical suite, the sisters monitored the ship’s controller. They knew when the ship accelerated and the precise second when it transited.
Lisa gritted her teeth as the transit effect knifed through her nerves. Then the disturbance passed.
Karl squeezed his eyes shut and belched. Then he was through it.
Frank groaned. His hands gripped the table’s edges, and his body repeatedly jerked.
Instantly, a sister placed the inducer on Frank’s temple, and he lay quiet.
Lisa and Karl sat up and regarded Frank.
“It appears that Frank had cause to be concerned,” Karl commented.
“There is no means of predicting which biological will react badly to the transit’s effect,” Galena said. “Those who suffer are a small proportion of any race, but precautions must be taken for every individual.”
“Should we wait here?” Lisa inquired.
“Our journey to the mouth of the anomaly will be quick. Then we’ll release Chairperson Allbers,” Galena replied.
Lisa and Karl waited silently. They had no intention of discussing company business in the sisters’ presence.
When the sisters and the chairpersons detected the transit’s exit, Frank was released from the inducer. He jerked upright and stared around, his eyes wild.
“Relax, Frank,” Lisa said soothingly. “It’s all over. We entered the dark and came out. You had a bad reaction, and your sister put you to sleep.”
“What did you two feel?” Frank inquired, trying to calm his anxiety at having been at the mercy of alien bots.
“It’s not pleasant,” Lisa remarked, “but it passed quickly.”
“I thought I was about to experience a bout of food poisoning, and then it was over,” Karl added.
“Chairperson Allbers, anytime that a sister requests you report to medical, you must follow her,” Galena said. “Am I understood?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Frank grumped. He hated submitting to the sisters’ care, but, what he had initially experienced, he never wanted to feel again.
“These sisters will lead you to your cabins and will attend to your needs,” Galena said.
“Wait,” Karl requested. “How will we summon them?”
“You mistake my instructions,” Galena replied. “Your sister will wait outside your cabin. The three of you are unable to signal your cabin doors. Therefore, they must remain open for the entire journey.”
When Galena didn’t receive another question, she swiftly exited.
Galena sent.
Galena objected.
Helena shared the exchange with Miriamal and suggested another sister manage the daily contact with the chairpersons.
The Dominance entered the anomaly and soon passed through it. Then Helena rapidly decelerated the ship until all forward motion ceased. With no other duties to perform, most sisters locked their avatars and waited. Only the three sisters on duty at the humans’ cabins were required to act.
Lisa invited her sister into the cabin and asked her to be seated.
“What do I call you?” Lisa asked.
“I’m Felicity,” the sister replied.
“Where are we now?” Lisa inquired.
“We’ve exited the anomaly, and the ship holds station,” Felicity replied.
This was Felicity’s first in-depth interaction with a human critical to the sisters. She remained linked to Miriamal and Helena for support.
“Is this part of the process of being careful in a new area of space?” Lisa asked.
“Undoubtedly,” Felicity replied.
“But you didn’t have that luxury when you exited the Satchel wormhole, did you?” Lisa pressed.
After a quick consult with her sisters, Felicity replied, “That would be correct. The SADEs were chasing us.”
“The SADEs have found you. Yet, you remain in our region,” Lisa pointed out.
“Why do you believe you’ve the upper hand over the SADEs?” Lisa questioned.
“Several factors enabled us to succeed and prevent our ousting,” Felicity replied. “We arrived at Beta Two with a headstart on the Alexander. This was critical. After a manufacturing implementation on that planet, we migrated much of our resources to Beta One. We now have produced a sufficient number of sisters to hold that planet.”
“How many?” Lisa interrupted.
“Nearly four hundred,” Felicity replied, not bothering to quote the exact number that had been produced at the time of the Dominance’s launch. “The final factor is the isolation of mining populations within domes. This gives us leverage. In addition, we deny the SADEs easy access to the citizens, who are maintained in a precarious state.”
“Why do you say leverage? Haven’t you displaced the company executive?” Lisa inquired.
“We have, but our efforts please Chairperson Lazama,” Felicity replied.
“That might not be as useful as you suppose,” Lisa remarked. She noted the momentary freeze in Felicity’s facial expressions.
When Felicity returned to the here and now, she said tersely, “Explain,” in a tone that proved to Lisa that her conversation had been shared.
“Are you not aware of the events that have taken place on Naiad due to the SADEs’ visit?” Lisa inquired.
“Your question doesn’t serve as an answer to our request,” Felicity replied in that directed manner.
“Miriamal, that’s too much to cover in a single sitting,” Lisa said, choosing to speak directly to the sisters’ leader. “I intend to refresh myself and then get something to eat. However, before I do, I’ve a final question. Have I heard everything that you believe represents your advantages over the SADEs?”
“There is one more item,” Felicity replied. “Our best protection stems from the SADEs themselves.”
“How so?” Lisa prompted.
“The SADEs’ ethics prevent them from endangering biologicals, if at all possible,” Felicity explained. “If they try to extricate us from Beta One, they might cause the population harm.”
“How would the citizens be harmed?” Lisa queried.
“That’s the unknown question for the SADEs, isn’t it?” Felicity responded.
Suddenly, the concept clicked for Lisa, and she said, “The SADEs are unsure to what lengths you’d go to protect your foothold on the planet.”
“Precisely,” Felicity replied.
“Then you’re prepared to risk the Beta One humans,” Lisa prompted.
“Are you asking us to place the well-being of humans over our kind?” Felicity inquired.
Lisa had noticed that Felicity’s facial expression had hardened. There didn’t seem to be a reason to pursue her line of questioning any further. Felicity and the other sisters had made it clear that they didn’t value human life equal to their existence, much less above theirs. The SADEs would be right to hesitate forcefully ejecting the sisters from a planet’s domes.
