The Agathon: Reign of Arturo Read online

  THE AGATHON

  Reign of Arturo

  Book 2

  Colin Weldon

  Copyright © 2016 Colin Weldon

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1522837779

  ISBN-13: 9781522837770

  Edited by Audra Labak [email protected]

  For River,

  My greatest adventure.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  A huge thank you to Audra Labak for her tireless editing of this book. As always, a huge thank you goes out to my wife and my family for their continued support of all my wacky projects.

  CONTENTS

  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

  1

  Earth One

  Office of Chancellor Arturo Verge

  3339

  “Chancellor Verge, I have an updated itinerary of tomorrow’s execution for your signature,” said the scrawny female aid towering over Arturo’s desk holding a sheet of paper in front of him. “Just leave it there, Florence,” he replied momentarily pointing to his desk. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the nearby ship through the porthole.

  “Yes, sir, as you wish,” she said. Her voice had a high pitched nasally quality about it that was beginning to bore a hole into Arturo’s brain. He contemplated moving her own execution up by a few weeks.

  “We have another pregnancy in Blue, sir. Shall I commence extraction?” she said.

  “Yes, Florence. Also, it would be greatly appreciated if I was undisturbed for the next few hours. See to it,” he said out of the corner of his mouth. He saw her turn and pause for a moment before responding.

  “Yes, sir,” she said before slowly gliding out of the room. The hiss of the door confirmed her exit as Arturo returned his gaze to the stars. The lights in the nearby village station began to flicker off as per the power conservation order. He looked on as the darkness began to creep over the surfaces of the space station. The lights in his office began to dim. He turned his head and glanced over the file that his assistant had placed on his desk. The torn paper edges revealed a single page document that he gently slid out of its worn covering. He looked at the photograph of the collaborator coldly and scanned the brief biography of the summary judgement beneath his withered old face.

  Name: Thomas Greenly

  Tribe: Red

  Age: 72

  Children: Two (Ben and Grace Greenly)

  Wife: Jane Greenly (67)

  Occupation: Waste processing

  Offence: Unauthorised entry into forbidden zone

  Summary judgement: Order of execution granted by the office of Chancellor Arturo Verge on this day 23/08/3339.

  Execution to be carried out at 08:00 on 30/08/3339.

  He gently placed the piece of paper back on his desk and looked out at the nearby space station, now cloaked in darkness. Greenly had been stronger than he had anticipated. He had screamed under questioning all right. They always did. Hard for any man not to with electrified hooks being inserted into his eyeballs. But, he never broke. He had to admire that. He was in no mood to delve deeper into the particulars of the man. Not today. He was still surprised at how heavily days like today had affected him. Every year he thought it would diminish, but like clockwork, his soul would sink the moment he opened his eyes on this date. His father’s last words to him.

  “Yes, Arturo. I promise.”

  Like a yearly time bomb, they echoed through his mind from the moment he woke until his last moment of consciousness at night. It had all changed after that. Everything. He spun his father’s ring around his finger as he listened to the silence. He turned his head towards his desk and tapped a button next to his glass of water. It made a slight beeping noise. He waited.

  “Yes, Chancellor, how can I be of assistance this evening?” said a deep growling voice.

  “Doctor Vishal, how are the power output levels?” he said. Something small and moving caught the side of his eye. It looked like a small rock off in the distance. He followed its movement carefully for a moment before dismissing it as a piece of space debris.

  “Not good, sir,” he said.

  “Projections?” Arturo replied.

  “Six weeks at best, sir,” he said.

  Arturo looked on at the nearby vessel tracking smoothly along the connected space stations. We need more he thought. It was time to start the draft.

  “Cut curfew by two hours beginning tomorrow” he said into the comm system.

  “That won’t be enough, sir. It may buy us a day at the outside,” said Vishal.

  “Just do it!” Arturo snapped.

  “Yes, sir,” he responded with a growl.

  “How many do you need to keep us running for three months?” Arturo said.

  There was a momentary pause on the other end of the comm channel.

  “Six,” Vishal finally said.

  Arturo thought for a moment.

  “Thank you. You shall have your six within the day. Arturo out.” He tapped the comm system which bleeped closing the channel. He tapped another button bringing the computer on his desk to life with a momentary flicker of light. He opened the passenger manifest and began scanning through the names and faces. He paused on one, separating it into an empty file directory he had just created, and moved on. Two others followed shortly after that. He scanned through the names pausing sporadically before completing his selection and closing down the computer for the night. He closed his eyes and let his head sink back into the soft headrest of his chair. He took several breaths as he relaxed his body and began to drift off to sleep. His father’s voice echoed once more into his thoughts“Yes, Arturo. I promise.”

  The Unity

  Deep Space Mining Vessel

  “This tastes like shit, India,” said Aron Elstone to his first officer who looked in no mood to be challenged on her coffee making skills.

  “Don’t like it? Get off your lazy ass and go make it yourself, cupcake,” she said taking her seat next to his on the flight deck.

  Aron smiled at her giving her a wink before taking another sip of the beverage. He winced at its bitterness and stared out at the floating rock they had been orbiting for the past three days.

  “Did you eat?” he said putting his feet up on the flight controls.

  “If you can call that cardboard crap we have back there food, then yes, I did. You?” she said.

  “Nah,” he replied.

  He could feel her worried gaze on his face.

  “You need to eat,” she said.

  “Jesus, you’re like my mother, you know that?” he said.

  India grumbled something under her breath and began tapping commands into the flight controls. She was right though. It had been two days and he was beginning to feel the effects of hunger taking its nasty grip on his body. The crew had to come first though. Nothing quite so dangerous as hungry men and women under someone’s command.

  One more day he thought.

  “What’s the status o
n the Helium 3 tanks?” he asked her.

  “Should have them tanked up in three hours,” she replied. “Then we can get those poor bastards off the surface and back on board. Ollie is starting to get grumpy,” she said.

  Aron looked over the flight deck and through the windows at the asteroid below. On the surface a glistening light beamed up from their locator pods. Aron looked at it for a moment before resting back in his seat. He rubbed his brow and dreamt of getting some sleep. His leg hurt more than usual. He rubbed the wound he had received on the previous mission gently and tried to hold in a yawn.

  “How long you gonna keep this shit up?” said India.

  Aron looked over at the shaved head of his first officer and smiled.

  “How long you gonna keep THIS shit up,” he replied pointing to her head. “You had beautiful hair, you know. When you let it hang loose, you almost passed for attractive.”

  India laughed and gave him the finger.

  “Go fuck yourself, sir,” she said.

  They shared a moment of joviality before India pressed on.

  “I am serious,” she said.

  Aron looked at his worn out boots and torn trousers and took another sip of the terrible coffee.

  “When are you not serious?” he said.

  “Captain, we have to do something,” she finally said looking straight at his eyes.

  He was surprised by her calling him captain. Something he had tried to get her to do for years, but which she refused. He knew it was time. But his crew wasn’t ready.

  “We can’t hold out much longer while this son of a bitch murders and enslaves us. If you don’t do something soon, I fucking will,” she said.

  Aron got angry and snapped back.

  “You’ll do nothing. You hear me? Nothing, unless I say so. That hot head of yours has no place taking revenge when there are thousands of lives at stake,” he said looking deep into her eyes.

  “You do anything without me, and I’ll not only relieve you of your post, but I’ll kick your ass from here to Aristaeus,” he paused taking a breath. “If it even exists,” he finished.

  India looked at the deck plating and then out of the window. She drew a breath calming herself.

  “I’m sorry, Aron, you know I wouldn’t do anything without your support and leadership,” she said.

  Aron extended his arm and placed his hand on hers.

  “We’ll get him, India, but we’ll only get him if we’re together in this. We need to do it carefully. Or we’ll all end up on the wrong side of an airlock,” he said.

  India nodded and squeezed his hand back, stroking her fingers across his. He withdrew his arm not allowing the tenderness that she was beginning to imply by their touch. There was no room in his heart for what he knew she felt for him. She took his signal and sat back in her chair. He could feel her disappointment, but knew she had grown to live with it. He sighed and looked at the grey floating rock outside. He was sick of it too. Endless mining. Endless missions. Impossible quotas with no end in sight. The Signal Maker’s planet was centuries away. By the time they reached it, there would be nothing human left to settle on the planet.

  “What about Thomas?” she said.

  Aron looked at her. Greenly had given him strict instructions that no rescue attempt was to be made if he was captured. He had left his affairs in order and given Aron a letter just before taking on the mission. He had opened the tattered piece of paper moments after the old man had left his quarters. He had slowly unfolded it. His fingers shaking as he read its contents.

  Dear Aron,

  You asked me once what I would do to rid humanity of this evil. I remember feeling so frustrated that my old age and infirmity would be of little help to you in your struggle. I woke every morning and looked at my wife and children who had lived a life of slavery and felt completely helpless. Although I have not known your loss, nor would I wish that on any man, the fear of doing nothing has been weighing heavily on my conscience. I have lived a full life and unlike most have had the privilege of raising a family. They look to me for guidance and protection. A burden I fear I cannot give. I can no longer live my life not knowing. I see in you our last hope for survival as a species. I know you are afraid. If my gift to you is my life in taking on this mission, then so be it. You need to know that I am at peace with my decision. There is an old Earth saying “I regret that I have but one life to give.” Do not be afraid of what it is you are about to do. If I am captured and consigned to oblivion by these tyrannical forces, I need but one thing from you. And it is not revenge. Show my children who their father really was. Teach them to be strong. Be kind and understanding to my wife, as she will no doubt hold resentment towards you for sending me to my death. She will eventually learn to understand. Tell her that I love her, then do one last thing for me. Kill Arturo Verge.

  Yours,

  Thomas Greenly (The first rebel)

  He had shaken Greenly’s hand firmly. He remembered nearly calling the whole thing off, but before he could muster up the words, Greenly had left. It was a few days later when India awoke him early to deliver the news of his capture.

  “Thomas knew the risks, India. We all do. He told me not to avenge him and I’ll honour that,” he said gritting his teeth. He had been half dressed in his quarters after she had given him the news, and was about to order an all-out assault on the space stations, but knew they wouldn’t last two minutes against their weaponry. He felt India’s anger and knew it needed addressing. He decided to give her something to do.

  “Have the plans drawn up for the medical supply run and ready to go by 08:00,” he finally said.

  She frowned. “Are we attending the execution?” she said under her breath.

  He thought about it for a moment.

  “Yes,” he said, “I want a test run on all sub light drive systems when the ground crew returns.”

  India hesitated, then swung her legs over the flight chair and left the cockpit. Aron closed his eyes and thought about Greenly’s last look before he left. It was peaceful. He knew he was not going to make it back. He put his hand inside his trouser pocket and pulled out a data rod. He looked at it as he let it run through his fingers.

  “Thank you, Thomas,” he said while looking out at the stars. It had cost him his life, but it was finally starting to happen. This little piece of metal would liberate the human race.

  “It’s time,” he said gripping it into a fist.

  The Agathon

  For millions of years the comet had drifted. Its tail spreading its icy rock all over the cosmos as it went upon its endless journey through nothingness. It had not seen a single moving object in all its time wandering through deep space. Surrounded by ice and silence. Millions of years of being alone. Destined to spend its eternity going from one nameless part of the galaxy to another. Not today however. As it crossed the heavens a flash of light and fire spread across its surface, as something unusual erupted out of the void and into existence. The large metallic monster streaked across its outer edge nearly crashing straight into it. It tumbled and spun out of control. The comet, unmoved by the wake of the explosion carried on its journey undisturbed. The spinning metal rings of the object began to slow revealing a disk shaped craft. Small explosions erupted off its surface as it tumbled away into the darkness. It was the only object the comet would ever see before it finally came to its eventual demise in another three million years at the merciless hands of an exploding star.

  “We’ve re-entered normal space, sir,” shouted Boyett at the flight controls. “Inertial dampers are offline, hold on,” she said.

  Carrie Barrington held on tightly to the base of one of the consoles on the bridge. She had been thrown halfway across the bridge. She looked back at her father who was holding onto the captain’s chair for dear life. She could feel the pressure of the G force against her chest. It felt like they were being thrown off a cliff.

  “Shut down the FTL ring!” shouted Captain Barrington through gritted teeth
.

  “Done, sir,” replied Boyett. She was strapped into her flight chair and tapping controls furiously.

  Several of the consoles had exploded and smoke was beginning to fill the bridge. Sparks rained down from the viewing screens overhead. Her father looked at her through his one good eye. The other remained hidden under a patch that Doctor Brubaker had given him to cover his eye wound temporarily. Carrie looked around the bridge which had descended into a chaotic scene of crew members pinned against consoles and sprawled on the deck.

  “Engine room!” shouted her father.

  “Tosh here, Captain, we’re shutting her down. Give me thirty seconds,” said Doctor Daniel Tosh’s gruff voice.

  “Understood,” replied the captain.

  Carrie looked to the rear of the bridge trying to see where Doctor Tyrell was. He must have fallen behind a bulkhead because she couldn’t see him. She began to feel lighter as the gravitational forces began to return to normal on the ship. She caught her breath and slowly righted herself, standing slowly. Her left shoulder hurt after hitting the console. She pulled her shoulder blades back, stretching them, and let out a sigh of relief. They were alive. There was silence on the bridge as the crew stood up and got their bearings. There was blood free flowing from a head wound on Kevin Ferrate’s face. The young operations officer began typing commands into the console behind her father’s chair.

  “Everyone in one piece?” he said looking around the bridge.

  Carrie looked at David Chavel sitting at the navigation console next to Boyett. He gave her a glance and smiled. She sensed his concern for her, so she nodded lovingly at him before he turned back to his console and began tapping away at it. The bridge settled as the vibrations of the spinning Faster than Light ring, which surrounded the vessel, slowed to a halt. There was quiet for a moment as the crew took a breath.

  “We made it,” said Chavel looking back at the captain.

  Barrington smiled at the young officer. Carrie was suddenly aware that the entire bridge crew was looking at her. Their escape from the planet sized machine intent on killing them and replicating their bodies had been a close call, but the sudden revelation about her secret abilities seemed to be on everyone’s mind. She could hear their collective thoughts focused on her. Some were afraid. She felt her father’s love as he linked with her momentarily.