Exodus: Machine War 1 Supernova.
Exodus: Machine War:
Book 1:
Supernova
by
Doug Dandridge
This novel is
dedicated to the brave men and women of Search and Rescue organizations around
the world. These people give selflessly of their time and effort, putting their
lives on the line that others might live. Whether in an urban setting, the
oceans, or the rugged wilderness of the mountains; whether members of the
military or civilian volunteers; they perform their tasks in all weather, night
and day, while there is still the hope of survival of those for whom they
search. Included in this group is a number of dedicated animals who bring
their inborn skills to the effort. Hats off to these courageous people.
.
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http://dougdandridge.com
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Copyright © 2015 Doug
Dandridge
All rights reserved.
Please respect
the hard work of this author. If you found this book for free on a pirate
site, please visit Amazon and buy a copy of your own. I feel that I charge a
reasonable price for this work.
For more
information on the Exodus Universe, visit
http://dougdandridge.net
for maps, sketches and other details of this work.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank all of my fans, especially those who sent emails or
commented on blogs about how much they have enjoyed this series. Your kind
words gave me the impetus to continue through the not so kind words left in
some reviews. Exodus will continue into the future, and I have no plans for
ending the series in the foreseeable future.
Cast of Characters
New Terran Empire
Captain Mandy Albright:
Commander,
light cruiser
HIMS William Clark.
Commander Nord Sekumbe:
XO,
light cruiser
HIMS William Clark.
Ensign Jan da Conti: William
Clark’s
sensor officer.
Lt. Tioshi Nagakami: William
Clark’s
com officer.
Lt. J’rrantar
: the
Phlistaran commander of the ship’s Marine contingent
Ensign Nguyen Dat:
Pilot,
HIMS Clark.
Warrant Officer Melissa Sung
:
Sting Ship pilot.
Lt. Commander Sophia Romanov
:
Clark’s
surgeon.
Petty Officer First Hi’tarris
:
Gryphon crewman.
Captain Walther Huang
:
Commander, light cruiser
HIMS Merriwether Lewis.
Commander Stephanie Harrison:
Exec
,
Lewis.
Lt. Commander Christi
M’tumbo:
Sensor officer,
Lewis.
Lt. Commander Chadrick
Balasubramanian:
assistant engineering officer
, Lewis.
Rear Admiral Nguyen van Hung:
Flag officer in charge of mission.
Captain Susan Lee:
Nguyen’s
Chief of Staff.
Captain Joshua Jackson
:
Admiral Nguyen’s flag captain
Commander Bergland:
Nguyen’s
intelligence officer.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Helen
Moyahan
: Officer, battle cruiser
HIMS Boudeuse
.
Lt. Col Mary Isaiah
:
Marine commander,
HIMS Boudeuse.
Captain Gertrude Hasslehoff
:
Commander, battle cruiser
HIMS Challenger.
Commander Cenk Ungra:
Chief
engineer,
Challenger
Commander Jaques La Clerc,
the
XO of the Challenger.
Colonel Thomas Margolis:
Marine
mission commander.
Captain Stacy Jangerson
:
Marine Company Commander.
Major General Travis Wittmore
:
Imperial Army system commander.
Commodore Natasha Khrushchev:
Exploration Commander flag officer.
Dr. Avery Phillipson:
Astrophysicists,
Imperial University, Jewel.
Captain Trevor Whitlow
:
Commander, liner
Lusitania
.
Captain Timofeyavich
:
Commander, battle cruiser
Francis Drake.
Captain Stone Mason
:
Commander, HC New Potsdam.
Klassek
Astronaut Nazzir Lamsat
:
Nation of Tsarzor.
Astronaut Hzzart Nastra
:
Nation of Tsarzor.
First Councilman Rizzit
Contena
: Leader, Tsarzor.
General Mazzat Contena
:
Rizzit’s brother and leader of Tsarzor’s military.
Engineer Lazzit Contena
:
Rizzit’s brother.
Artist Mizzit Contena
:
Rizzit’s brother.
Financier Kazzat Contena
:
Rizzit’s brother.
Zzarr
: Premier, Nation of
Honish.
Books by Doug Dandridge
Doug Dandridge’s Author Page at Amazon
Science Fiction
The Exodus Series
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3: The Rising Storm
.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 4: the Long Fall.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 5: Ranger
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 6: The Day of Battle
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 7: Counter Strike
:
Exodus: Tales of the Empire: Exploration Command
:
The Deep Dark Well Series
Others
Fantasy
The Refuge Series
Doppelganger: A Novel of Refuge
Others
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Prologue
For am I not my brother’s keeper,
no matter what form he may take? For did not God care more for the minds of
his creations than the body? Made in God’s image means we are touched by the
mind of the Almighty, that our brains are a reflection of his glory.
Archbishop Monica Phillipe,
Reformed Catholic Church, the Year 545.
JUNE 7
TH
, 1000.
D-393.
One instant the
space between the stars was empty, or as empty as it could be. A couple of
thousand gas molecules per cubic meter, as good a vacuum as most technological
societies could produce. The next, a hole opened into the higher dimensions
and eight hundred thousand tons of hyper capable vessel slid back into normal
space. Three light seconds to the side a second ship appeared, identical to
the first. Sensors began their passive sweep of the surrounding space,
listening for any hint of anything out of the ordinary, across all of the many
frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. Another set of sensors looked at
the graviton emissions of every object for hundreds of light years, while the
powerful computers aboard the ships parsed the data, correlating both types of
radiation, comparing them, and giving the ships a detailed view of the space
around them.
“It’s still
there, ma’am,” said Ensign Jan da Conti, the sensor officer.
Captain Mandy
Albright, the senior of the two ship captains, and therefore the commander of
the pair, nodded her head as she listened to the radio signals that were coming
over the sensors. Fifty light years further back they had first detected the
emissions, had triangulated their location, and had moved closer, which fit
into their mandate of discovering intelligent species that might inhabit the
space outside of the many empires in the Perseus arm.
“These are a lot
stronger,” said da Conti, looking back at his Captain. “And clearer.”
The sounds
coming over the com definitely had the sound of voices, and after a short time
they could pick out the repetition of certain phrases. There was no way they
could determine what was being said, of course. They would need some further
references in order to parse out any kind of intelligent speech.
Albright looked
around the bridge of the hyper VI light cruiser, much like those of other
comparable ships in the Fleet. With some differences. The
William Clark
was based on a warship design, and, in fact, was heavily armed with beam
weapons and counter missile launchers. What she was missing was the internal
magazine space of most light cruisers. She carried enough to make her
dangerous, but not enough to fight a protracted battle. Instead, she used that
space to carry the extra mass of more sensitive sensors, as well as the science
labs that might come in handy on an Exploration Command vessel.
“Is
Lewis
reporting
anything different?” she asked Tioshi Nagakami, the com officer.
“No, ma’am,”
said the officer after she had checked the com stream for a moment. “Same
signals. We are triangulating, now.”
The central holo
tank zoomed in on a section of the surrounding space, a G class star blinking,
showing the most likely point of origin of the signals, based on strength and
direction.
“Since we’re
already on the proper vector,” said the Captain to the Helmsman, “let’s go
another thirty light years and see what we can see.”
Both ships
jumped back into hyper VI and went into a least time accel/decel profile to
come out into normal space at point two c, thirty light years from the target
system. The ships once again came out of hyper and listened, but this time the
signals were both stronger and more numerous, and many of them were on a higher
band.
“We’re picking
up video bands as well as audio this time, ma’am,” said da Conti.
The main viewer
was showing what still looked like static, though there were glimpses of lines
and patterns on it, as the computer crunched the signal and tried to make sense
out of it.
“What’s that?”
said Albright, pointing at the screen as some images cleared for a moment.
Images that looked like some kind of life form, but one that no one had ever
seen before. “Is that them?”
The viewer
cleared, showing a pair of sentients, then went under a burst of further
static, before clearing once again as the ship’s computer grabbed onto the
digital translation of the signal.
Two of the
aliens appeared again, different from anything in the databanks. They had
long, slender torsos, from which sprung six tentacles, three from each side.
The heads were somewhat humanoid, with a high brow and what looked like hair
starting halfway up the forehead. Both had long flowing manes, one blond, the
other reddish brown. Four eyes, one large and one small on each side of the
bulbous nose, looked out of the vid, while a wide mouth full of sharp teeth sat
below the proboscis. One of the aliens was smaller than the other.
Male and
female?
thought the Captain, staring at the two dimensional image. They
were sitting behind some kind of counter and reading from what looked like
paper.
A newscast?
“I wish we could
see the rest of them,” said Nagakami, her own eyes narrowing as she studied the
forms.
The view
switched as soon as the words left her mouth, showing a group of the aliens in
what looked like camouflaged uniforms, weapons that appeared to be rifles in
their tentacles. They were advancing on some buildings, and now they could see
what the creatures used for locomotion, long, three jointed legs that carried
them swiftly over the ground. The view switched yet again, to what looked like
very primitive aircraft, such as those used at the beginning of the jet age.
Objects fell from them and hit a structure. The building blew out, then
collapsed on itself.
The next shot
was back at the studio, with the two, casters?, looking out at the audience
through the camera, reading from their sheets. The viewed switched again, and
everyone on the bridge cringed back in shock at what was revealed, as an angry
looking mushroom cloud rose into the air.
“So they make
war,” said da Conti, staring at the screen. “And they have nukes.”
“Which means
they might not be around anymore,” said Nagakami, shaking her head.
The Captain
nodded. About half the intelligent species known that developed atomic weapons
didn’t survive to get off their planet.
“Let’s see if
they're still here,” said Albright. “Navigator, I want us to come out one
light year from that planet.”
Again it was a
least time voyage, maximum safe acceleration to the halfway point, then the
same kind of deceleration to entry to normal space. And the signals were still
there, stronger than before, clearer, and from the broadcasts things had
definitely changed. The aliens were still extant, and still fighting wars
according to the cast. And now they had some of the translation program in
place they could understand a bit of the speech.
“This appears to
be an entertainment video,” said Nagakami as they watched what look like a
female of the species sitting in a room and taking care of some babies, one after
the other, while some males talked. There was a track of some kind of sound in
the background, laughter? “I wonder if that many children is the norm, if this
is an extreme case, or if they just made this up for their viewers.”
“At least they
still exist,” said Albright in a quiet voice, a smile on her face. While
intelligent life seemed to be plentiful in the Galaxy, it was still a joy to
find new forms to communicate with, to set up exchanges of knowledge and
culture.
“We’ve a big
problem, ma’am,” said da Conti in a strained voice. The viewer switched to a
three D image of the space in front of them, the yellow star centered. And to
the right was a blindingly bright point of blue light.
“Is that what I
think it is?” said Albright, standing up from her chair. “How long?”
“From
preliminary spectral analysis,” said the Sensor Officer, zooming in on the blue
giant star, “a year. Maybe more, maybe less.”
“And there’s no
way we’re going to be able to transport and entire planet full of people away
in that time,” said Nagakami, her own eyes locked on the star that was on the
verge of going supernova, less than six light months from the home of the
sentients they had come to see.