Terra Dawning Read online

  Terra Dawning

  By Ben Winston

  Copyright © 2015 Ben Winston

  Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Disclaimer

  Bedouin's Travels

  Terra Dawning

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  About the Author

  Connect with the author or Blue Space Publications, LLC.

  Books Published by Blue Space Publications, LLC.

  Disclaimer

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed by a newspaper, magazine, or journal.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Bedouin's Travels

  Twilight Earth

  The Long, Dark Night

  Terra Dawning

  *A New Day (First Quarter of 2016)

  Terra Dawning

  Chapter One

  Primary Landing Area

  Argassi Aerie and Polyponics facility

  Planet Terral III

  Cassian March

  Duchy of Cassias

  Hyclarion Imperial Consortium

  News of the pirates’ atrocity spread like wildfire, and it even attracted the attention of the regional Hyclarion Ranger Outpost (or simply the HRO). The destruction of the Aerie made people realize that if an Aerie, even a small one, could be destroyed by these pirates, then none of them were truly safe. The Duke got his wish in spades.

  In a way, his plan had worked a little too well. He grossly underestimated the reactions of a planet full of scared people. The HRO arrived on planet to begin their own investigation almost before the Duke had time to react.

  He hadn't had time to move the troops he had hidden, and a high resolution scan of the ocean floors would soon reveal the transport ships that had brought those troops to this world. So he had to figure out a way to keep the HRO from doing their own scans.

  The Duke knew that the main reason the HRO was there was because the Aerie had been insured, and the insurance company would require an investigation before agreeing to release the funds to purchase a new Aerie.

  The Duke had worried about the problem until the HRO ship had landed at StarDock, then proceeded to Argassi. He smiled with inspiration. If their ship was here at the StarDock, then it wouldn't be in orbit doing scans. The Rangers would have to rely on the Duke's resources and people to do the scanning.

  He had long ago made sure that any scan of the planet would not reveal anything out of the ordinary; no strange power readings, no weird or suspicious 'rock' formations, and no large, non-biological underwater targets.

  Although the Duke had not bothered with the report on the late Addson Dee, he did make damn sure there was nothing in the findings from the Aerie investigation that would indicate military grade equipment. That would require the HRO to stay and track down the pirates, just to try and trace the weapons. That was something the Duke very much did not want to happen.

  As he stood in the lounge awaiting the contingent of Rangers, he watched as they disembarked from their ship. This particular group had two humans with them. The Duke growled to himself. He'd heard the fucking Emperor had allowed a few of that worthless race to attend the academy on Hyclarion.

  From what he'd heard, not only did they carry weapons, they had been cybernetically enhanced in order for them to fulfill their duty as rangers. The fact that humans had been made stronger in order to defeat other races in hand to hand combat made him want to regurgitate. Humans being given weapons was just more proof that this 'Emperor' was not only unfit for the job, but grossly negligent as well.

  Everyone knew that humans were only good for two things; slaves, and the dinner table. They simply weren't smart enough for anything else. Luckily they bred like rabbits, and so a properly managed herd could easily be turned into a cash-generating business. That was something he planned to do as soon as he got rid of the sniveling sycophant on Hyclarion!

  “Duke Tammerain, in the name of His Imperial Majesty, Hjoolous the ninety-third, you are hereby ordered to render all assistance to the formal investigation being conducted by Hyclarion Ranger Outpost number eight-forty-seven upon the world of Terral III, which is within the boundaries of your holdings. Will you comply with this order?”” One of the short, human Rangers said, in a very business-like manner.

  The Duke had refused to look at her as she approached, so he hadn't noted her rank. He had simply assumed she was a regular trooper. “Where is your Commander, Human?”

  “I am the Commander of this mission, as well as the senior officer on my ship. If you truly want to speak to my Commander, I'm sure I can arrange a meeting for you,” the woman snapped. “I am Ranger Commander Jance Halst of Hyclarion. Am I to assume then, that you are refusing this order..., Duke?”

  “You will address me as My Lord or My Duke while you are within the bounds of my holding, Human!” The big lizard hissed. “I will not stand for disrespect from a human!””

  “Very well, Duke Tammerain, In the name of the Emperor, I am placing you under arrest for refusing an Imperial Directive...” she began.

  “I did not say I was refusing you stupid... AAAIIIIIGGHHH!” He swung at her as he'd been speaking, and the next thing he knew he was on his back. His prominent genitals and strong tail felt like they had been dropped into a vat of liquid ohto. He was effectively paralyzed.

  Jance walked up so he could see her. “You never attempt to strike a Ranger unless you are trying to kill her. Now, since I got the privilege of knocking you on your scaly ass, I will forget everything that has happened since we got off the ship and assume you agreed to comply. Keep your mouth shut, let us do our job and we'll be off this fucking mud ball of yours as soon as we can.”” She stood back up and pointed to another being that was in a uniform. “You, I assume you're the security head?” When it nodded, she continued. “Excellent. Lead on and we can begin.”

  Grand Council Chamber

  Command Pod Alpha One

  21 Apr. 10266 CE (AD)

  Sector 34871 - Great Inland Sea

  Earth, Sol system

  Ben sat quietly and calmly in his chair. He knew that what was about to be discussed on the com would be hard to justify to the Council members, but he must try. Too much was at stake.

  “Brothers and Sisters. As you already know, General Greenwold has positively identified a base near us that is being used by the pirates that have been raiding on the surface. She has submitted a plan to attack and take the base. Before anyone asks, there are some very good reasons for taking this base.

  “First, because of the destruction of the Aerie that was located at Great Falls, Montana, in the former United States, the investigation into the pirate’s activities will now have a much higher priority to planetary officials. Which tells me, that if they find these pirates, they will also find this pod group and possibly our military base.

  "Second, we need more information about our new time before we can even begin to formulate a plan to reclaim our world. Taking this base and as many prisoners as we can will help gain us this knowledge. The down side to this is that if we are discovered, the authorities will most likely believe we are actually the pirates. Which, they will believe anyway if we are discovered before we can reach the Hyclarion E
mperor.

  “Third. I'm not real keen on allowing an armed force we don't control this close to us. If they detect us before we act, they would be forced to attack us because they would think that we are the Imperial Police or whatever passes for that agency. A fight here would most likely attract the attention of the authorities on the surface and they would investigate and we would be discovered.

  “Fellow Councilors; I am contacting you like this because it is my intention to authorize this attack. My goal is to inform you of the impending action and answer any questions you may have. To that end, I will answer what I can,” Ben finished.

  Mother announced, “Councilor Inichi Qua has a question; Honorable Prime: May we know how far away the base is from you, as well as what size force you will be using?” Mother had translated for the councilor, who really sucked at English.

  Ben nodded. “Certainly, Councilor. The pirate base is located approximately seventy-five miles to our north-east, in the ruins of the city of St. Louis, Missouri, in the former United States. Although we are unsure of the exact size of the base, we are going to send seventy of our soldiers to take the base. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but most of these people are from former special operations teams in the various militaries of our old world.

  “We are preparing special holding cells for a large number of prisoners in the event they are taken. Because of the amount of unknowns here, we are first going to send a small six man team to do a recon of the area and of the base using seismic equipment. If possible, they are to kidnap at least one or two adult individuals to be brought back here for questioning. Based on the information learned from those people, we will adjust our troops and plan of attack.”

  Again, Mother announced, “Councilor Carlyle has a question.”

  “Aye that I do. Prime what exactly are th' goals in th' takin' of yon base?”

  “Simple, to remove the threat of discovery because of our proximity to the base and to gain as much information as possible from the base computer systems and personnel,” Ben replied. “Of course, if they have a ship or two we could get, that would be pretty great too.”

  Planetary Office of the Duke

  Argassi Aerie and Polyponics facility

  Planet Terral III

  Cassian March

  Duchy of Cassias

  Hyclarion Imperial Consortium

  That thrice damned, cybernetically enhanced, malignant mutant of a human bitch! How dare she strike him! That fucking little breeder would be on his dinner plate at the next Festival of Barssnathh or he wouldn't rest until she was ground up and dumped into the recyclers! The gall of that... human! Better beings than her had dared to strike his genitals and they paid for their temerity; she will not be the exception!

  Pulling his terminal to him while he recovered on his warming rock, he began pressing keys rapidly. He hissed in pleasure as he issued his new orders to the pathetic dupes everyone else called pirates. He would have them kill that bitch for him! It was fitting after all that one of her own kind take her down for him!

  The death of a Ranger team would be all the excuse he needs to bring troops here. Combined with the amount he already had covertly stashed all over the planet and in this system, he would finally have enough to unseat that ineffective primate from the throne on Hyclarion!

  Once he finished issuing his orders, he reclined back on the stone to nurse his wounded pride. The medic had told him that he would have to ‘therapy’ before he would be able to breed again. The way he felt right now, no amount of therapy in the galaxy help him. Maybe after that fucking human was dead he would feel like it, but certainly not now.

  Hidden Pirate Headquarters.

  Planet Terral III

  Cassian March

  Duchy of Cassias

  Hyclarion Imperial Consortium

  Elrond stared at the orders in total disbelief. There was simply no way he could carry out these orders. Kill a whole Imperial Ranger team? How the fuck was he supposed to do that? He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. Now what was he going to do?

  The Rangers were possibly the only beings on planet that could possibly help his people, and he had orders to kill them. After the destruction of the Aerie, the death of that prospector, and those poor folks from the tram, he knew that his life was forfeit, along with most of the rest of the people. About the best they could hope for now, would be for their children to be spared.

  How had he gone from a simple ohto smuggler to a mass murderer? How did he let it happen? A soft rapping on his door brought him out of his inner dialogue. “Come.”

  Arivan Jythee, Elrond's sometimes helpmate and sometimes lover, opened the door and slipped inside. She had been smiling coyly until she saw his face. Her smile disappeared almost instantly.

  “What's wrong?”

  In reply, he simply handed her the missive his computer had printed out after decoding the message. She quickly read it, then read it again.

  “He's completely off his rock! You can't just kill a Ranger Team! We'd lose half our people in the attempt, and then there is no guarantee we could do it. Those folks are damn hard to kill!” she replied, looking at him in desperation.

  “I know. There is no way in hell we can do this, but there is also no way in hell that fat fucking lizard will believe it. The problem is, we're still stuck between a rock and a hard place. We can't run for help, and even if we could, we have no proof,” he commiserated. ““I have no idea what to do here.”

  It was a little frightening for Arivan to see her friend like this. For as long as she'd known him, he was always decisive, he always knew what to do and where he was going. All the insane orders from the Duke, all the murders they'd had to perform in his name were killing Elrond's soul. This was the time he needed her the most. She just hoped he would accept it.

  Standing up and facing him, she slowly took off her clothes. He had watched her with a confused expression on her face. When she bent down and kissed him tenderly on the lips. He pulled back.

  “Ari! Now is not the time! How can you even think about being intimate at a time like this?”

  “Hush now! This is exactly the time for it. Just relax, and let me do this. It's late and you need this. Trust me, you'll feel better in the morning,” Arivan replied and pushed him back onto his bed.

  “Listen-up kids, the soundings we took earlier indicate that we are sitting real close to the pirate base,” Gail said. “The recon boys also found the airlock we will be using as our entry point. We are not here to take the base, yet. This is a snatch and grab. We sneak in, grab a few people, and get the fuck out before anyone knows we're there.

  “Mother tells us that this corridor has what appears to be sleeping quarters or small apartments. This area is also one of the least traveled. It's the middle of the night on the surface, so we should be able to find some of the folk in their bunks. Remember to use the remotes that each team was given to open the locks. Ideally, we go in and get back out without any casualties on either side.

  “Team One, you hit the first apartment on the left side of the hallway. Team Two, you hit the second. Enter, secure any and all individuals you find, and get them back to the ship. Team Three, you go to the third apartment and warn us if anyone's coming. Questions?”

  They had all been over this three times before, so there were no questions. There were a few anxious faces, but none that were really nervous. Gail closed the visor on her battle suit, and gave her pilot the thumbs up.

  The lock that the teams were using had actually been slightly covered with silt and sand. However, the pilot had used the ship's thrusters to clean off the area, and sealed her lock to the door before any of the mess could resettle. At Gail's signal, she'd opened the door on the ship, giving Gail access to the pirate base's door.

  Gail grinned in her suit as three members of Team Three raised their weapons and trained them at the door. She stepped forward, and placed the special remote against the lock controls, and pressed the activate
button. She wasn't surprised when Mother's voice was heard in her helmet.

  “General, it is as I thought. This is a simple airlock with a sonic locking mechanism. I should have it open quickly.”

  “Thank you, Mother. That'd be great,” Gail replied.

  There was a moment or two of silence, and then a sudden burst of muffled tones. The lock groaned slightly, but slid open.

  Team Three was the first in and slowly worked their way down the corridor to their guard spot. They had barely cleared the lock when Team Two entered and followed them. Lastly, Gail led her team in, and slowly moved up to the first door on the left. Once again, she set the remote against the door controls and pressed 'activate'.

  The lock light on the door turned green and she slid it open just a crack to see inside. What she saw almost made her laugh.

  Ari was very good at taking his mind off of problems. She just had a way about her that made you forget everything in the world except her when you made love. That was why Elrond didn't see the lock plate on his door change, or noticed that it moved.

  That was why it was such a surprise when he felt the barrel of the strange weapon gently tap his thigh. He froze and looked behind Ari, who had yet to notice they were no longer alone. The being in the obviously armored suit motioned for him to be silent, as Ari finally came out of her spell to ask him what was wrong.

  When he motioned to the intruders, she jumped off him in surprise. The suited being held up a hand and took a step back. From a device in one gloved hand, a voice issued.

  “I'm really sorry to interrupt you folks. But I'm afraid you'll need to get dressed and come with me. Please be quiet, and please hurry.”

  “Who are you?” Elrond asked. “What do you want with us?”

  It took a moment for the reply, and Elrond suddenly realized the device was a translator.

  Through the translator, Gail replied. “This isn't the place for this discussion. We will answer your questions, but you have to come with us.”

  “I don't suppose refusing is really an option is it?” Ari asked.