With Julien’s response, the program reached the end of one of its primary decision trees. the QASAP responded.

  Then the fleet received a star map and accompanying data identifying the Queller home world.

  Immediately afterward, the ovoid ship initiated its huge engines and got underway, retreating the way it had arrived.

  “It what?” Lisa asked incredulously of Samuel, who had provided the exchange’s conclusion.

  “We’ve been invited,” Samuel repeated, smiling broadly.

  “I like the way you so glibly understate the dangers of these adventures,” Lisa replied tartly. “Is Julien considering going, and will the fleet follow?”

  “As to the latter question, Julien won’t be allowed to proceed without the fleet.”

  “I thought he was the leader?” Lisa inquired.

  “He is, but I’ve been made to understand that this isn’t always the case, especially when it concerns his safety,” Samuel replied.

  At the same moment, Julien was discussing the same subject with Tocknicka.

  Julien sent, which as far as he was concerned was the end of the discussion.

  Tocknicka regarded Juno, the second-gen sister, who stood beside him. She was smiling, she sent.

  Shaking his avatar’s muzzle in resignation, Tocknicka directed the Trident squadron to act as outriders to the fleet. Then he linked the ships’ controllers, set the star destination, and launched the fleet toward the Queller home world.

  — Gate Ghosts will continue in Dual Domains —

  Glossary

  Aboard the Alexander

  Alice – Ceda’s suit

  Bethany McIntyre – Ex-security commander

  Bot-boy – Mickie computer geek and repairer

  Ceda Geneva – Clone, Escher’s partner

  Cremsylon – Oldest of the SADEs

  Doc – Teen who cared for the mickies

  Emory – SADE, son of a Crocian

  Escher Talons – Young Genevan, Ceda’s partner

  Gat’r – Mickie repaired by Nalia

  Hathor – Stacey’s suit

  Hephaestus – Gat’r’s suit

  Indigo – Beta One nanny

  Jasper – Mickie

  Jewel – Beta One nanny

  Johann Stegmeir – Ex-Naiad security captain

  Kadie – Beta One nanny

  Kelley – SADE, son of Mickey Brandon, a deceased Omnian engineer

  Lita – Mickie

  Miranda – SADE protector, partner of Z

  Nalia – Méridien SADE

  Red – Mickie

  Scrounger – Mickie

  Stacey Caballero – Ex-Naiad security lieutenant

  Tammy – Mickie

  Thoth – Johann’s suit

  Violet – Méridien SADE

  Z – SADE protector, partner of Miranda

  Beta One (X-Ore)

  Adam Stynchula – Comtech head

  Connor Metcalf – CEO

  Leonard Goth – Engineering head

  Mathew Colbrum – Security commander

  Melondy Phillips – Clone manager

  Nate Strasser – Director of operations

  Sookie Park – Personnel head

  Beta Two (X-Ore)

  Auburn – Scarred female clone

  Elisabeth Flaum – Dome facilities head

  Harlyn Blackwell – X-Ore research head

  Jeffrey Witcher – Engineering head

  Knut Kielpinski – Veteran shuttle pilot

  Kornel Havel – Medical director

  Lemil Boydston – Accounting head

  Patty Bonnet – Comtech head

  Peña – First-gen sister

  Peter Doell – Director of operations

  Ricardo Broadus – Port flight controller

  Saran Auernhammer – Personnel head

  Xena – Peña sister clone

  Beta Two Clones

  Dybra (anagram of Brady)

  Evest (anagram of Steve)

  Idreid (anagram of Didier)

  Nala (anagram of Alan)

  Dominance Sisters

  Helena – First-gen sister

  Miriamal – Militarist sect leader

  Theda – First-gen sister

  Delhart (CenGas)

  Denise Bell – Board chairperson

  Geneva (Raw Metals/Raw-Mets)

  Karl Denham – Chairperson

  Helgart (Imperium Empire)

  Baltart – Friend of Kelter, dissident

  Deckus – Fleet imperator

  Declinator – Second-in-command to the imperator

  Executor – Lord who rules region of Imperium Empire

  Gretren – Imperator

  Hobar – Imperium chief scientist

  Imperator – Warship commander

  Imperium – Empire, home planet, and governing body

  Kelter – Gorder on Helgart

  Korvath – Declinator, warship second-in-command

  Kreus – Artificial intelligence on Helgart

  Ragirt – Imperium lead engineer

  Tarbar – Imperium inquisitor

  Kilmer (Pure Pour)

  Darling – Female tech

  Gant Borden – Director of operations

  Lisa Dyehouse – Chairperson, later emissary

  Madeline – Chairperson’s assistant

  Shoya – Mickie, gang leader

  Trigger – Mickie in Shoya’s gang,

  Naiad (Home World)

  Brendan Burke – TM partner, brother of Gemma Burke

  Claudia Hoffing – Naiad lead councilor

  David Yewall – Naiad councilor

  Diana Breneman – Comtech director

  Fillery Partus – Naiad councilor

  Garret – Harlyn Blackwell’s husband, Hasting’s father

  Gemma Burke – TM partner, sister of Brendan Burke

  Goshling – Rim smelting and fabrication director

  Ian Kilpatrick – Director of astrophysics research team

  James Soisson – Naiad councilor

  Jason Lazama – X-Ore chairperson

  Lena – Research coder

  Oscar Hoffing – TM partner, son of Councilor Claudia Hoffing

  Pashtani – Research director

  Paul van Dysen – Commandant of security

  Ramiro Ferraro – Naiad councilor

  Samuel – Burgeoning digital sentient

  Simona Yewall – TM partner, daughter of Councilor David Yewall

  Omnians

  Alain de Long – Twin of Étienne de Long

  Alex Racine – Co-leader of the fleet, partner of Renée de Guirnon

  Étienne de Long – Twin of Alain de Long

  Renée de Guirnon – Co-leader of the fleet, partner of Alex Racine

  Tatia Tachenko – Outpost Two fleet admiral, partner of Alain de Long

  Outpost Five Fleet

  Bethley – SADE scout

  Céline – Norloth medical officer, Méridien

  Cordelia – SADE, fleet admiral, partner of Julien

  Darren Stansfeld – Senior crew chief aboard Captain D’Arcy’s ship

  Dominique D’Arcy – Trident squadron senior captain, Omnian

  Dorsa mya Jaknas – SADE daughter of Myseth mya Jaknas, captain of the Aquaria, later commodore

  Gistamia – Storyteller captain, Hyronzy

  Julien – SADE leader, partner of Cordelia

  Killian – SADE scout team leader

  Lily Timmons – Norloth crew chief

  Lorelei – Norloth crewperson, makeup artist

  Luther – SADE, specialist in comm technology and Q-gate implementation

  Mendes – Trident senior captain

  Minimalist – SADE, specialist in Q-gate implementation

  Nira Racine – Nyslara captain, storyteller, granddaughter of Ginny and Teague Racine

  Remmer “Rem” Havard – Great-grandson of Ude, ex-leader of the wild ones, and Petra Havard

  Samusar – SADE

  Tocknicka – SADE, commodore, descendent of Tacnock

  Trium – SADE scout

  Yerli Hershey – Norloth captain, descendant of the Earthers Olawale Wombo and Patrice Morris

  Quellers

  Ergatisa – Junior elder

  Iltaft – Tech department manager

  Lemtaca – Junior elder

  Wymron – Senior elder

  Thartath Sisters

  Fatima – Second-gen sister, working on Beta Two

  Juno – Second-gen sister, communicator, aboard the Emergence

  Merlie – Second-gen sister, communicator, working on Beta Two

  Pandora – First-gen sister

  Yma – Second-gen sister, communicator, working on Kilmer

  Transit One (Regolith Recovery/Reg-Rec)

  Frank Allbers – Chairperson

  Others

  Artifice – Digital entity, nemesis of humankind and the federacy

  CenGas – Mining corporation

  Cid – Citizen identification device, implanted with original genetic information

  Colony – Alien race who devastated alliance worlds

  Compendium – Jargats’ unwieldy governing body

  Comtech – Computer, technology control, and network operations

  Confederation – Worlds settled by Méridiens

  DE – Digital entity, Naiad young person’s term

  Densing Array – Station located on Naiad’s rim

  Egonos – Barbarous race in federacy space, evolving

  Executor – Krackus lord who ruled a domain

  Hergis Samis – Axis-ship captain

  Jargats – Race in the Thartath system

  Justice Hall – Location of the Naiad Council

  Loop or Looping – Entering one end of a wormhole and passing through to the other end

  Messinants – Ancient race who created quantum-linked domes

  Mickie – Mining orphans without cids

  Mods – Augmentations/modifications to the body

  Naiad Council – Home planet’s ruling body, five members elected democratically

  Nua’ll – Alien race who captured the Swei Swee

  Omnia Ships – Company owning the licensing rights to ship shell and Q-gate technology

  Outpost Five: Racine – Located at Omnia

  Outpost One: Resistance – Located at Pyre

  Project Destiny – Technological uplift projects driven by Lisa and Samuel

  Pure Pour – Mining corporation on Kilmer

  Raw Metals – Raw-Mets, mining corporation on Geneva

  Regolith Recovery – Reg-Rec, mining corporation on Transit One

  Ser – Méridien honorific for males and females

  Tritiums – Race of small sentients born as emotionally and telepathically bonded triplets

  Truth Matters – TM, media outlet of Oscar, Simona, Brendan, and Gemma

  Veklock – Alliance race known for their acerbic demeanor, two males always accompanied a female

  X-Ore – Mining conglomerate

  Planets, Stars, Systems, and Wormholes

  Axis Crossing – Intersection of four known wormholes

  Basyat – System hosting the Queller home world

  Beta One – Mining planet one loop outward from Axis Crossing, X-Ore owned

  Beta Two – Mining planet two loops outward from Axis Crossing, X-Ore owned

  Calabas Wormhole – Located near the Gelus system

  Crimsa – Pyrean system in alliance space

  Daelon – Incarceration moon of Méridien Independents

  Daimler – System hosting Kilmer mining planet

  Delhart – Mining planet one loop outward from Axis Crossing, CenGas

  Devona – Queller home planet

  Felder – System hosting Delhart mining planet

  Filium – System and star location of Geneva, also referred to as Axis Crossing

  Gelus – System name of Naiad

  Geneva – Mining world owned by Raw Metals

  Helgart – Imperium decree colony

  Kilmer – Mining world

  Méridien – Original home world of the SADEs

  Monart – System and star location of Beta Two

  Naiad – Name of colony planet in the Gelus system

  New Terra – Home world of the colonists from the ship of the same name

  Paltur – System and star location of the Imperium home world

  Stabler – System and star location of Beta One

  Thartath – Jargats’ system

  Toral – Home world of Talusians

  Ships

  Alexander – Z and Miranda’s Quadrant ship

  Aquaria – Thartath sisters’ carrier

  Axis-ship – Ship designed to protect humans passing through wormholes

  de Long – Outpost fleet Quadrant, Captain Remmer “Rem” Havard

  Destiny – Earth colony ship, founded Naiad

  Dominance – Militarist sisters’ carrier

  Emergence – Thartath sisters’ carrier

  Freedom – Julien and Cordelia’s Quadrant, named after the original city-ship

  Norloth – Class one freighter, Captain Yerli Hershey

  Nyslara – Outpost fleet Quadrant, Captain Nira Racine

  Peacekeeper – Krackus battleship

  QASAP – Queller Automated Search and Protect ship

  Quadrant – Style of ship designed by Z and Miranda, the Alexander

  Storyteller – Thartath sisters’ carrier

  Traveler – SADE/sister shuttle

  Trident – Omnian tri-hulled warship

  Vivian’s Reflection – Newest scout ship for Killian, Bethley, and Trium

  My Books

  Vortex Incursion is the fourth novel in the Gate Ghosts series, which relates the stories of the descendants of Earth’s fourth colony ship.

  The novel is available in e-book, softcover, and audiobook versions. Please visit my website, http://scottjucha.com, for publication dates and purchase locations. You may register at my website to receive email updates on the progress of my upcoming novels.

  The Silver Ships Series

  The Silver Ships

  Libre

  Méridien

  Haraken

  Sol

  Espero

  Allora

  Celus-5

  Omnia

  Vinium

  Nua’ll

  Artifice

  Sojourn

  Alliance

  SADEs

  Earthers

  Talus

  Elvians

  Q-Gates

  Conclave

  Pyreans Series

  Empaths

  Messinants

  Jatouche

  Veklocks

  Gate Ghosts Series

  Axis Crossing

  Clone Crisis

  Race Rivalry

  Vortex Incursion

  Dual Domains (forthcoming)

  The Author

  From my early years to the present, books have been a refuge. They’ve fueled my imagination. I’ve traveled to faraway places and met aliens with Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Herbert, and Le Guin. I’ve explored historical events with Michener and Clavell, and I played spy with Ludlum and Fleming.

  There’s no doubt that the early sci-fi masters influenced the writing of my series, The Silver Ships, Pyreans, and Gate Ghosts. I crafted my stories to give readers intimate views of my characters, who wrestle with the challenges of living in space and inhabiting alien worlds.

  Life is rarely easy for these characters, who encounter aliens and calamities, but they persist and flourish. I revel in examining humankind’s will to survive. Not everyone plays fair or exhibits concern for other beings, but that’s another aspect of humans and aliens that I investigate.

  My stories offer hope for humans today about what they might accomplish tomorrow far from our home world. Throughout my books, humans exhibit a will to persevere, without detriment to the vast majority of others.

  Readers have been generous with their comments, which they’ve left on Amazon and Goodreads for others to review. I truly enjoy what I do, and I’m pleased to read how my stories have positively affected many readers’ lives.

  If you’ve read my books, please consider posting a review on Amazon and Goodreads for every book, even a short one. Reviews attract other readers and are a great help to indie authors, such as me.

  These novels have reached Amazon’s coveted #1 and #2 Best-Selling Sci-Fi book, multiple times, in the science fiction categories of first contact, alien invasion, and space flight.

 

 

  S. H. Jucha, Vortex Incursion

 

 

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