The Adventures of Connor Jakes: Masks (The War for Terra Book 1) Read online

  Water was drawn up from the former swimming pool of the yacht and cycled through the plants’ root system. Purified and rejuvenated, the water then returned to the tank below her feet. She could hear the comforting gurgle of the water through the pipes as she carefully pulled an onion from the enriched soil. She heard the door to the bay open and boots stepping on the metal deck. For a moment, she was sad her silent reflection had been interrupted. As the man came into view, however, she smiled.

  “Where have you been?” Melaina asked Connor Jakes. “Ben told me you left this morning after breakfast. Did you go to Earth?”

  A strange look crossed the man’s face before he smiled back at her. He was wearing his familiar sleeveless shirt and black vest. His hair was clean and tied back, but he needed a shave. She marveled at how much she felt for him. When she was a little girl, she had dreamed of marrying a prince and riding off to a castle in the clouds. Connor Jakes was as far from being a prince as she could have found, but she loved him anyway. He stepped close and put his hands on her shoulders.

  “Sorry, darlin’,” Jakes said. “Chang wanted to talk to me about stayin’ around this dump.”

  “And what did you say?” Melaina asked, setting the vegetables down on the lip of the planter. “Are we staying?”

  “You nuts?” Jakes replied with a grin. “You went down there. You saw how bad those bugs screwed the place up. There ain’t nothin’ left to stay there for.”

  “I’ve been down there, but you haven’t,” Melaina said. “Why won’t you go down? You told me you’ve never been to Earth. Aren’t you even a little bit curious?”

  “You see one planet, darlin’, you’ve seen’m all,” Jakes said, leaning in close for a kiss.

  “You most certainly have not!” Melaina said, backing away quickly. “This is Earth, Connor. It’s our mother planet. Don’t you want to see where we all came from?”

  “I came from a ship travelin’ from one numbered planet to another, from a woman who didn’t care to stick around and a daddy who hated my guts,” Jakes said, losing his smile. “That planet down there looks about as nasty as they did and I don’t want any part of it. In fact, I was thinkin’ about leavin’.”

  “Leaving?” Melaina said, stepping back fully and turning away. “We just got the planet back? Where could you possibly want to go?”

  “Melaina,” Jakes replied, stepping closer and putting his hand back on her shoulder. “It ain’t nothin’ personal. I just don’t like stayin’ in one place too long. Besides, it ain’t like the Corsairs are gonna be welcomed with open arms down there. Most of ‘em got put away by the same people who’re now in charge.”

  “The Corsairs are gone, Connor,” Melaina replied, turning back to look at him. “They left this morning. That’s why I went looking for you.”

  “Where’d they go?” Jakes asked, wide-eyed.

  “Admiral Chang offered amnesty for anyone willing to help rebuild,” Melaina replied, tears forming in her eyes. “They went back to Earth to start over. I sort of hoped we could do the same.”

  “That son of a bitch!” Jakes yelled. “I can’t believe they’d leave the Liberty. We’ve got freedom here. What do they got on that dead rock down there?”

  “A second chance, Connor,” Melaina replied. “Don’t you want to settle down some day? I hoped maybe we could…”

  “Could what, darlin’?” Jakes said, anger pushing his brows together. “Get a house on the Mediterranean? Raise a couple of kids? That ain’t me. I can’t make some kid live through losin’ me like I lost my family. It just wouldn’t work, darlin’. I ain’t that guy.”

  There was something else behind his anger that Melaina had seen before. She knew he hadn’t told her the truth about his background. The story he told of how he had been sent to prison didn’t sound like him at all. Since there were few records left about his past, she accepted the lies for the moment in the hope he would tell her the truth someday. She pursed her lips and stared into his eyes. He had softened his expression almost as quickly as it had turned dark. She saw pain behind his eyes that she couldn’t touch yet.

  “Alright, Connor,” Melaina said, brushing aside a stray lock of hair that had come out of its tie. “I get it. We’re not staying. You have no desire to own a home and a family right now. I get it.”

  “I’m sorry, Melaina,” Jakes said, taking her hand, which felt smooth compared to his calluses. “I just can’t believe the Corsairs abandoned us. I thought we were a family here. At least a gang or somethin’. We can’t fly this thing alone. I mean, I can fly her but…”

  “I know what you mean, you old pirate,” Melaina said, kissing the back of his hand. “You won’t have to fly her alone. Bonnie stayed.”

  “Bonnie works for Chang,” Jakes replied. “She’s probably under orders to stay.”

  “I don’t get it, Connor,” Melaina said, stepping closer to him. “Why didn’t Admiral Chang mention the amnesty to you when you saw him?”

  Jakes looked puzzled for a moment. Melaina thought she saw a hint of panic on his features as he licked his lips. Jakes turned away from her and stepped to the vegetables. He picked up the tray and turned back to her.

  “He was probably too busy tryin’ to order me around,” Jakes said. “He wants me to go back and check on Perigee.”

  “Perigee?” Melaina said. “The station’s been destroyed by the Ch’Tauk. Why would he want you to go there?”

  “I don’t know,” Jakes replied. “Somethin’ about a cake he left in the oven or somethin’. I don’t really care, anyway. I told him to stuff it.”

  “Connor…”

  “Now listen to me, Melaina,” Jakes said. “I ain’t workin’ for the Alliance, the Confederacy, or any other government that wants me to be a part of it. I already made up my mind where I need to go and that’s where we’re goin’. As soon as I get a crew. Anyone else left?”

  “A couple of the guys from below. I think it’s Mendel and Parker … Tuxor, of course, and the twins. That’s about it. We need a chief engineer.”

  “I thought you were available?” Jakes said. “I mean … you are stayin’, right?”

  In response, Melaina stepped closer to him and reached her hand behind his neck. She pulled him close to her. She could feel his breath on her skin. When they kissed, she felt the depth of his emotions. The kiss lasted for what seemed like an eternity. When they parted, she could still taste him on her lips. The two looked at each other for a moment. As she backed away, he gave her a crooked grin.

  “I guess that means you’re stayin’,” Jakes said. “I suppose I better call the rest of the crew in for a meetin’. You say the twins are still here?”

  “Where else would they go?” Melaina replied. “I don’t even think Chang knows what to do with them.”

  “Oh hell, they’re alright as long as you feed ‘em,” Jakes replied. “Parker and Mendel might be a problem, though. I think they got more outstandin’s than I do. I’ll have to put them to work and see if I can tame their instincts a bit.”

  “Connor?” Melaina asked as he turned to leave. “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t like leavin’ things undone, darlin’,” Jakes said, turning back and handing her the plate of vegetables. “I left somethin’ alive that needed to be dead and I intend to go back there and put it down.”

  “Where?” Melaina asked.

  “Terpsichore.”

  2

  “The problem with the wealthy is that they forget what it’s like to be human. Of course, if you are not human to begin with, what do you forget?”

  Banu Rao

  The Life of a Hero (unpublished autobiography)

  According to the textbook description, the region known to humans as M-space is a dimensional barrier between our universe and another. As different realities formed over the millennia, nature created a buffer to keep the two realities apart. Humans discovered ways to translate ships from one plane to the other using powerful magnetic forces to twist the fa
bric of the universe. Distances in M-space were distorted and followed different laws than our physics. To keep from being torn apart by the strange and exotic energies in the region, the creation of powerful shields was required.

  To human eyes, the region appeared as a layer of blue-brown liquid with massive pockets of high density energy swirling in random pools. Human poets wrote epics after staring into the exotic landscape, while artists gave up on trying to entirely capture the absurd environment. While experienced spacers could navigate M-space using beacons anchored to reality, younger, more naive pilots tried to follow convoys. They were quickly lost as the energy surrounded their escorts and obscured sensors. Once lost in M-space, pilots were forced to drop out and find their way back ton inhabited planet.

  Bonita Estevez maneuvered the converted yacht Sweet Liberty around a fluid ball of energy the size of a moon. The ship had shields that could withstand the impact, but she preferred the smoother ride. She had once piloted the Confederate cruiser Iwo Jima through a planet-sized sphere of liquid energy. It had merited her promotion to lieutenant. She had only served as that ship’s pilot for a few months before the fall of Earth and her eventual capture by the Ch’Tauk Empire. A rescue mission by the battleship Resolute had freed her and her crew, but the old ship was long gone.

  “We’re coming up on the translation point, Captain,” Bonnie said. “The beacon is a little twitchy. Remind me to send a message to Earth to have it look at.”

  “Let ‘em find out themselves,” the hulking figure of Eli Mendel replied. “We don’t owe them anything.”

  “We owe them the same thing this ship is named for, Eli,” Jakes said, turning on the stool that served as his command chair. “Sweet Liberty itself. Maybe you wanna go back to Harpy station where they found us all?”

  “They can’t send us back there, Captain,” Mendel said. “We blew it up, remember?”

  There was brief laughter from Parker Triga, Mendel’s partner and fellow thief. The two men occupied the makeshift tactical station cobbled together on the yacht’s bridge, Mendel massive and bald, Parker thin and sickly-looking. The two had been arrested together after a failed series of heists nearly six years before. After their rescue by the Terran Princess three years prior, they had been travelling with Jakes as his muscle. Bonnie didn’t like either of them, but they were harmless to her. She tapped the keys on the panel and a vortex of color erupted on the screen ahead.

  “Translation point opened,” Bonnie said. “I’m reading stellar configurations in accordance with Terpsichore.”

  Beyond the vortex, stars were visible. There was a brief moment as the image on the screen faded out. High energy particles exploded as the ship returned to normal space. The effect from outside was one of a corona of fire surrounding the ship. As the vortex closed behind them, the energy bled away into space and the Sweet Liberty was revealed again.

  The ship was small, with the majority of its space taken up by a compact fusion reactor and M-space engines. Jakes and the original crew of Corsairs had “liberated” the ship from an alien slave trader who had murdered the crew and sold the owners. Jakes had renamed the vessel Sweet Liberty in honor of his release from the prison at the beginning of the war. Somewhere along the line, he had managed to have the ship retrofitted with military grade shields and a hull coating which rendered it nearly invisible to sensors. The ship was black, suiting its new purpose as a privateer vessel. Defensive lasers had been pulled out and plasma cannons installed in the bow and flanks. She was a deadly craft with an even deadlier crew.

  “Scan for energy signatures,” Jakes ordered. “Last time I was here the place was dead. I wanna know if it still is.”

  “Scanning,” Parker replied. “I got a whole lotta nothin’, Captain. There are ships all over. Well, parts of ships anyway.”

  The screen shifted as the ship was turned towards the former pleasure station. Built by aliens to be the pinnacle of decadence, Terpsichore orbited a young star alone. No other bodies inhabited this system, which made it the perfect place to get away from it all. The station had a central dome around which six smaller domes were connected. The central core was small, housing the administration complex and storage areas. The other domes were each the size of cities. Able to be reconfigured to suit the tastes of whatever species could pay, the station had a reputation for being a hive of sin.

  “Pieces of ships?” Jakes asked. “Last time those ships were whole. Any signs of scavengers?”

  Mendel blanched at the mention of the scavengers. Made up of races from across the galaxy, the scavengers had become a species to themselves. They survived off the carcasses of dead ships, plundering and stripping down the vessels for any technology or supplies they could use. If they came across a ship that was disabled but still occupied, they killed the owners and took whatever breeding stock they needed. Even evil men like Mendel and Parker kept their distance.

  “I don’t see anyone, Captain,” Parker replied. “There ain’t a ship out there still has their whole hull intact. I mean, the station seems okay, but…”

  “But what?” Jakes said, standing from his chair and stepping to the smaller man. “What’s out there?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Parker replied, pulling himself closer to his screen and peering in close. “There’s one ship docked at Terpsichore that has a very low signal. It’s probably just residual energy from a solar flare or something, but it’s all I got.”

  “Is there any other trace of this solar flare?” Jakes asked, stepping closer to the screen. “Can you show me this mystery ship?”

  “She’s on the star-ward side, but I think I can get an image,” Mendel replied. The big man tapped a few keys and the view screen changed.

  Attached along the side of the station was a private yacht built on the same frame as Sweet Liberty. There were minor differences in the configuration of the bridge and thrust cowling, and it had been painted a garish green and yellow, but she was obviously the sister of Jakes’ ship. Looking closer, Jakes could see micro-pitting along the outward frame of the ship. He assumed the shields were deactivated and the ship had been attached for a while.

  “Can you signal the station to open a docking port?” Jakes asked. “I want to check that ship out.”

  “We claimin’ salvage rights, Captain?” Parker asked. “There’s a few things we need for Liberty and I could sure use a new bunk.”

  “Let’s take a look at what’s waitin’ for us first, Parker,” Jakes replied. “Last time I had a battleship at my back. This time I just got you two.”

  “That should be enough,” Mendel said with a grin. “From what you told us of this place, there won’t be anyone on that ship to stop us. I say we take what we can get and blow the station.”

  “Really, Eli?” Bonnie said, turning to face the big man. “Is that all you think about? There’s more to life than blowing things up.”

  “There’s always opera,” Mendel said. “I like opera. Of course, nothing blows up at the end of most operas.”

  “All of you, stop,” Jakes said, his tone enough to chasten his bridge crew. “You say there’s a power reading from that ship?”

  “Yep,” Parker said, tapping a key and bringing up the readout on the screen. “It’s not much. The engines are cold and all. I think it might be life support. I ain’t got no life readin’s though. It’s probably set on automatic. Batteries ain’t run down yet.”

  “What about the station?” Jakes asked. “Can you signal for a docking ring?”

  Bonnie began to tap out keys on her panel. Small lines appeared on her face as she scanned the station’s computer system. After a few moments, she turned back to Jakes with a frown.

  “The docking system is fried,” Bonnie explained. “It looks like the scavengers tried to raid the place. The computer core sealed the docking platforms and burned out the system. It’s probably why that ship couldn’t leave.”

  “Are you saying whoever was on that ship survived a scavenger attack?”
Jakes asked. “Assuming they survived the station?”

  “Captain,” Parker said, stepping closer to Jakes. “You keep sayin’ somethin’ about that station. What did you see there anyways? I never seen you scared of a station before.”

  “If we can find a way on that station, you’ll find out,” Jakes replied, stepping back to his seat and sitting. “Bonnie, you got any ideas?”

  “We could blow a hatch out and cross over on tethers?” Mendel suggested. “I got just the thing in the hold. Shaped charge with a plasma igniter.”

  “I asked Bonnie, Eli,” Jakes replied, rolling his eyes. “And remind me to go through the hold and take everything with your name on it.”

  “It’s okay, sir,” Mendel replied with a grin. “I got Parker’s name on that one.”

  Jakes and Bonnie both looked at the big man. It took him a moment to realize what he had done. Parker reached over and slapped his partner hard, breaking the other two from their stares. Bonnie blinked a few times before turning back to her console. Jakes looked at the screen as a way to avoid looking at his men.

  “There may be one way, sir,” Bonnie said. “The station is locked down, but not that ship.”

  “What do you mean?” Jakes asked, staring at the ship.

  “I think the airlock systems are still functional on that yacht. If we can link our computers, we may be able to hack their starboard airlock,” Bonnie said, tapping keys and bringing the view around. “I’ll bet the twins can do it in a few seconds if we pull alongside with our port ring.”

  “The twins, eh?” Jakes said, looking back at Bonnie. “Have they had their snack?”