Partial or whole chapters in Alpha Draft

Prologue

It was a Friday on the old earth calender. Once a month, the council that governed the Unified Colony Federation met to discuss the issues that plagued the twelve Texas sized habitats. Everything from budgetary concerns all the way to the more pressing issues such as food, oxygen and water production. One of the biggest issues with coordinating these meetings were orbital time zones. More than that, was the time it took for communications to make its rounds through the solar system. Unlike their O-ring tech, which was invented by Danny Anderson and used to save humanity, communication was a different beast altogether. It could only move at the speed of light. The delay was awful and it left room for doubts, but there was a solution to verify authenticity. It came in the form of an old earth concept, PKI (Public Key Infrastructure).

It took a week to coordinate, but only hours to convene. Tetra, the elected representative of Habitat One, Sat in the back of her transport as it sent its Docking codes to Habitat Ten. “We’re clear to dock.” came a gruff but professional voice from the cockpit. “Proceed.” Was all Tetra said as she continued to gaze out the view port at the gas giant’s beautiful giant red spot, admiring its fury. This meeting was special, however and classified top secret. She didn’t even know who initiated the process one earth rotation after their last meeting, but it must be big, whatever it is.

After onboarding her ship she was guided to a non-descript vehicle bearing the last six of her phone number on the license plate, which indicated it was her ride to Habitat Eleven’s Counsil Hall. “Welcome, counselor Tetra.” nodded the driver. She nodded back and got in. The three-hour ride went smooth. All things considered; the entire trip was quite droll. If only Mr. Anderson had also invented teleportation. It wasn’t until she entered the main council chamber That her sudden dismissal of this meeting’s severity evolved.

Already standing behind his chair was Colin Haverford, the elected representative of Habitat Eleven. He gave Tetra a baleful glair. Colin had always been agitated when she was in the same room as him, but he was just outright pissed. One looks around the chamber gave her the answer to that particular riddle of life. She was the last one to arrive. By the looks of her antique watch, she was only 5 min late. “Counselor Tetra, do you have any idea how late you are?” Colin angrily growled. The other counselors silently glared their agreement. “Five minutes late so what. We’ve already waited 7 whole earth rotations what’s an extra five minutes.” She held up her watch to emphasis the point, but was met with eleven other figures pointing at a clock representing her orbital time zone. She looked at it and then back at her watch. She wasn’t five minutes late. She was three hours late. “You need a new watch, counselor Tetra.

Ignoring the asshole, she stood behind her chair and sat in unison with the rest of the counsel. They had literally waited for her when in the past, they would just start without her and pass her the cliff notes. “Thank you, members of this esteemed counsel, for being here today.” Tetra listened as Colin bulldozed through the official opening lines of his opening speech. Witney was the first to speak. “What’s this meeting really about?” The others all nodded their heads in agreement. Then Colin exhaled in his speech’s premature defeat and gestured at a military official that was seated at the far end of the table. It was Gen. Erving, Ross Reynold’s serving Lt. General of the Federation.

She noticed the General Stand at his mention and reach for a remote hidden some ware on his uniform. Every counselor in the room except Colin gave the General looks of confusion. How could they not? The United Colony Federation was just that, united, and the only reason the military would be involved was if a counselor refused to give up power at the end of their term of it was pirate related. The 50^th Counsil was only 7 years in their term, so it couldn’t be that, and all pirate activity in the entirety of Sol was almost non-existent for nearly a year. As a matter of fact, there were talks of turning the military into an expeditionary force based on Ross’s findings, but he never came back and was classified as MIA. So, it couldn’t be that either.

General Erving took his place on the center podium and stood at ease, waiting for his que, and when he got it, he pressed upon his held remote with rehearsed precision. A huge holographic projection lit up behind him. Anger burned within Tetra and no amount of control could keep it in check. “Is this some kind of joke? Aliens! Aliens aren’t real. This has got to be the most elaborate waist of this counsel’s time. The Asteroid was an elaborate ploy set by the pirates and you know it.” Counselor Terry stood up after Tetra yelled her piece and was announced. “Counselor Haverford, I know Ross was your friend and I know we also lost one of the greatest minds since Steven Hawking on that very same mission, but Counselor Noddings is right. This is just another hoax to lure more of our ships into a trap.” When Tetra and Terry both sat down Colin was recognized. He stood with a fresh tear betraying his emotion. “While I am outspoken on this, that is not the direct reason we have convened. Please, Let’s allow the General his time to speak and then we can discourse amongst ourselves.”

“Good evening, council members. This meeting was requested by me as this pertains to the safety of the UCF and her people.” All eyes were laser focused on the General with this new revelation, especially since it was common knowledge that he and Supreme Gen. Reynolds were not friends and only interacted on professional terms. “What you see is that threat. It has wiped out eight of the eleven pirate clans. The picture you see before you, although hazy as it is, was taken and sent to Habitat Twelve by the UCF Carrier the Defiance and its ten destroyers before it was destroyed in open hostilities with the unknown ship.” Some of the counsel gasped. The Defiance and her fleet had an impressive battle record when it came to dealing with the pirate factions. The general continued, “To assist in this briefing we have a representative from the pirate faction as an envoy from the ruling clans under diplomatic immunities to give his testimony and first-hand accounts of his encounter.

Zain Marrows was a Captain of a captured and retrofitted Destroyer of one of the big three clans of Core Astrid, and it was so until that fateful day, the day him and his crew rand into that strange ship. It was a familiar ship, a reminder of a ship he had run into once before. The name Ross Reynolds crossed his mind, but he wasn’t the focus of this particular mission of his. No, this was a mission from the big three themselves to the very UCF they were in constant conflict with. It was an ongoing dispute over first colonizing rights of the Sol System, which Zain hoped and prayed to the good lord of all, would not come up as a sore topic or be used for some political means for some agenda. After all, even the three great pirate clans understand what the survival of a species means.

Looking out at the stars were Core Astrid’s orbit might be, he wondered what would become of them and the colonies if they couldn’t stop this menace. Would the United Colony Federation even believe his tale and arguably the most dangerous secret Core Astrid held. Could he even muster the courage to do so? He had boarded military cruisers and mining vessels and even killed and launched their surviving crews out into the vacuum of space in cramped escape pods with their own dead, and yet this was the most nerve-wracking thing, public speaking. His contemplation was interrupted when Bartholomue’s voice shook Zain out of his own head. “I’ve just received docking clearance. We are cleared for dock nine.” And in a more amused tone said, “I think we already know how this is going to, Captain.” “And how is that Bartholomue?” The bridge door that separated the small cabin opened and he saw his pilot smiling at him. “Recourse deposits and loading bay.” Zain smiled and laughed.

They were greeted by a nameless man wearing a worker’s outfit not to dissimilar from those moving boxes of refined ores. The only difference between the nameless man and the other workers was the envoys visitors badge held out in his outstretched hand. The setup made more sense now. It was still a statement, which amused Zain and his pilot, but also served as cover. After all, he was a blood thirsty pirate and that wouldn’t look good on them once they were out of office. Taking the badge Batholomue was left with the ship and he was taken to wherever the meeting was to take place. Once they reached a parking lot outside the refining facility, they swapped vehicles for a more personal one, where he was directed to change his clothes. They weren’t playing around with the cloak and dagger.

Zain smiled nervously. He was out of his element. He was used to the more free-spirited people of Core Astrid and most of all his crew. “That’s right. The real reason I am doing this.” He mumbled looking at an old black ring adorning his index figure. “What was that, ass wipe.” Came a slightly hostile no named driver, but he knew better than to take the bait. This was yet just another reminder that here, he was the enemy. Zain just looked away. Silence would be his shield, and if he had to get there on foot, he’d do so. After all, he’d been here before.

There was no further issues and the trip to the meeting was terribly boring. His escorts led him through security with ruff hands, thankfully they had no interest in the ancient and bland looking ring. From there, he was handed off to another individual, this one bigger than the other one and no less hostile. If not for his diplomatic status and he would of likely been found dead in a ditch and his ship vanished. If the mission wasn’t so critical, he would have just never docked, but it is what it is and he was ordered to play nice, and it was in his best interest anyway, especially if he wanted to achieve his goals. He subconsciously rubbed the ring again.

 After hours of what sounded like debating and arguing, a more serious sounding man took his place and started briefing the UCF’s council. “A bunch of idiots if you ask me. At least the General has sense.” Thought Zain. Once the general reached the end of his part Zain was invited out. He was met with outrage and hostility. The General just gave him a look of sympathy. A Counsiler who’s desk plate was labeled Haverford stood up and demanded order. “I know. I know, but for the sake of my sanity let’s all of us just here him out first, or I will motion to have you reused from this meeting. I can continue without you so long as I have the support of at least half of the representatives in this room. Suddenly the noisy half of the room quieted down once they realized that they didn’t have the support they thought they had.

Standing patiently by the General, he waited until he was motioned to the center. “So, I understand you came into contact with this unknown ship?” Zain gave Counciler Haverford a confirming nod. “Then please give us your account of your encounter.” So, he did and he started from the beginning, working his way through the details. “And, that’s when my boarding party encountered their problem.” It was a different councilor by the name of Gavin from habitat five that stood up and was announced. “What kind of problem? You were killing the ship’s passengers to steal it for yourselves. Of course, you had a problem and, in my opinion, still do.”

Though Zain’s nod took the councilor by surprise he said, “Yes, and it’s my opinion that that problem is also yours as well as ours.” “I fail to see how, pirate.” Gavin retook his seat. Zain continued, “I had my crew member shot after they had lost their mind, and to this day I still cannot figure out why they were overtaken by madness. I had my men continue their takeover of the ship and I thought they did.” The council was giving him their undivided attention now. Even the members that seemed against him were lasered in on him. “There are protocols that are observed when a capture is successful and they were not observed. Counciler, you accused us of killing its passengers. That is procedure yes, but the ship had one passenger. He was shot and killed, and yet somehow, he managed to brainwash my entire crew and turn them into a gem. We initiated a random jump.”

 The chamber erupted into chaos and stayed that way for a while until Haverford brought the room into order once more. “Now, see here. The idea that magic exists is ridiculous. This is a waste of our time. I motion to end this meeting.” Zain interrupted the fool before he built any momentum. “Magic is very real, and I can prove it.” This garnered some amused smiles, and some mocking laughter. Then, Zain connected to the ring like he was shown and felt the rings true potential and purpose. It was a storage device as well as minor protection. “If I can at minimum be dragged out of this room by the gorilla that escorted me in then you win. I am a liar and you are right, but if he can’t touch me, then I am right and you have to take me seriously.” Of course, there was some mocking and some developing derision involved in their decision. He understood. Zain would have been the same way had he been in their shoes, but he took it in good stride, and even thought it funny. “Ok, the council will agree to this. Jamison, drag this fool out of here.”

Zain’s escort was no ware to be found. Instead, the general standing next to him gave Zain an apologetic smile and attempted to accost the envoy. Zain, who was still connected to the ring, activated its minor protections. General Erving’s fist hit a reddish barrier that brought the man’s fist to a complete stop. His escort, seeing the display ran in with his gun drawn and opened fire. The bullets, like Gen. Erving’s fist were stopped dead on the surface of the red barrier with waves spreading across it like ripples on a pond.

All twelve members of the UCF sat in their chairs slack jawed. They had witnessed the impossible. Some of them were wordlessly working their jaws. When they stopped, Zain pulled out an ancient looking visor cam from seemingly out of no ware along with a set of cables and an old earth projector. “That ship, much like this ring is magic. It will carve through our ships like a hot knife through butter. If you thought losing your ship was an impressive feat, imagine what I tell you next about our losses.” The ex-captain pulled out a high-tech and modern looking Holo cam and plugged it into the console and returned to the podium and gesture for the remote. After a moment a holographic projector displayed the ship count; Class; type as well as their crew size.

Ship Count	Class	Type	Crew Count
800	Multiple	Fighter	2/fighter
300	Multiple	Destroyers	10/Destroyer
80	Star-Class Horizon-Class	Carriers	50/Carrier+fighters
80	M-Class S-Class	Battleships	100/Battleship
15	Galaxy	Sentinel	160/Sentinel

 Then played out a series of battles of epic per portions. It started as a small encounter, working its way to a united front between the Orris and Gant clans’ fleets. “As you can see, all our ships are rendered defenseless and severely crippled, or out right destroyed. Even our Galaxy class Sentinals can’t even stand up to it and now its headed for your Habitat 12. We need an alliance If humanity is going to survive this.” He saw the pale faces of every council member in the room. Even General Erving was Pale. Then the Room erupted in shouts of fear and uncontrolled panic as he began setting up the ancient equipment, because once they calmed down, or if they could, he had a history lesson to give about the first maned mission to earths neighbor, and possible hope.