Cygnus Rising: Humanity Returns to Space (Cygnus Space Opera Book 1) Read online

  Cygnus Rising

  Cygnus Space Opera

  Book 1

  A Tale in the Free Trader Universe

  By Craig Martelle

  Copyright © 2016 Craig Martelle

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN 10:

  ISBN 13:

  ASIN:

  Cover art created by Christian Bentulan

  CoversbyChristian.com

  Background image on the cover provided courtesy of NASA from a picture taken by the Hubble Telescope

  Editing services provided by Mia Darien

  miadarien.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any appearance to real people or places is wholly unintended and coincidental.

  Other Books by Craig Martelle

  Free Trader Series

   Book 1 – The Free Trader of Warren Deep (February 2016)

   Book 2 – The Free Trader of Planet Vii (March 2016)

   Book 3 – Adventures on RV Traveler (April 2016)

   Book 4 – Battle for the Amazon (August 2016)

   Book 5 – Free the North! (September 2016)

   Book 6 – Free Trader on the High Seas (October 2016)

   Book 7 – Southern Discontent (January 2017)

  Cygnus Space Opera – set in the Free Trader Universe

   Book 1 – Cygnus Rising (Sep 2016)

   Book 2 – Cygnus Expanding (2017)

  End Times Alaska Trilogy, a Winlock Press publication

   Book 1: Endure (June 2016)

   Book 2: Run (July 2016)

   Book 3: Return (August 2016)

   Book 4: Fury (December 2016)

  Rick Banik Thriller Series

  People Raged and the Sky Was on Fire (May 2016)

  Short Story Contributions to Anthologies

   Earth Prime Anthology, Volume 1 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

   Apocalyptic Space Short Story Collection (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

   Lunar Resorts Anthology, Volume 2 (Stephen Lee & James M. Ward)

   Inanna’s Circle Game, Volume 2 (edited by Kat Lind)

   The Expanding Universe, Volume 1 (edited by Craig Martelle)(Dec 2016)

  Aletha

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Fire!

  Six Months Ago

  The Obstacle Course

  First Classes at Space School

  The Routine

  Space

  Welcome to the RV Traveler

  Damage Control

  Peace of Mind

  Ship Training

  Man Against Machine

  A New Partnership

  The Return Home

  A Return to Space School

  Space School Graduates

  Last Preps to Join the Crew

  Cygnus-12

  Getting Underway

  Set Course for Interstellar Space

  Activate the ISE

  Engineering’s On Fire

  Report!

  A Rapid Recovery

  Into the Well

  Fellow Humans – The Decision

  A New World and New Life

  Prepare to Repel Boarders

  Run and Hide

  One Down, One to Go

  Take No Prisoners

  Kill them, kill them all.

  The Concordians, They Come

  Deck by Deck

  The Concordians Are Gaining on You

  They’re in the Engine Room!

  Hide

  Jolly’s Return

  Clearing the Pad

  Prepare to Leave Orbit

  Postscript

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  I love the space opera genre and want to thank those who’ve written books where I’ve read the whole series – David Weber, Raymond Weil, Mark E. Cooper, Joshua Dalzelle, N.D. Webb, Jonathan P. Brazee, Edgar Rice Burroughs with his John Carter series, and even Gene Roddenberry with Star Trek. Inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere, but in the end, the thing that matters most is the relationships between the characters. Thousands of years in the future, people will still get upset by misspoken words and unkind acts. How will they respond? Those are the tales that are timeless. And that is what I try to do in every one of my books, as well as include a variety of intelligent species, because you suspect that your cat would murder you in your sleep, if he could only master the can-opener.

  After becoming a full-timeauthor, I’ve found kindred spirits in the publishing world. A few have been very kind to allow the use of their names as we memorialize each other in print. I fear that Craig Martelle has died hideous deaths in the books of my fellows. I’m far less bloodthirsty, but sometimes, characters get hurt… Shout out to Kat Lind, J.L. Hendricks, and Michael Anderle, all of whom sport a namesake in this book. Michael writes the wildly popular Kurtherian Gambit series. Jenn writes the Eclypse of the Warrior Paranormal Romance series, and Kat writes mostly non-fiction, but she’s slowly coming over to the dark side with the rest of us fiction geeks.

  I want to thank some readers by name as they are the ones who we look to when we’re feeling a little down. Diane Velasquez and her sister Dorene Johnson are powerhouse readers, ready for anything I throw at them and always willing to give feedback. Andrew Mackay and Joe Jackson also helped me with a pre-read of this book, just to make sure that it hit the right notes and you can thank Andrew for the inclusion of the Line & Block org chart. I like his suggestion to add visibility to the loose structure that the SES embraces. Norman Meredith and Chris Rolfe dive into anything new for me as well and they are very kind and fully supportive. My goal went from publishing a book, to writing better books, to not letting people like these down. I endeavor to get better with each new title in telling a good story with believable characters doing things that matter.

  NOTE: For those who’ve read the Free Trader series, we have changed the capitalization in Cygnus Space Opera from what you’ve seen to a more standard English. We hope you enjoy the story.

  Humans and the Intelligent Creatures

  Intelligent creatures are capitalized – Rabbits, Wolfoids, Hawkoids,

  The Hillcats

  Mixial – Tandry’s bonded ‘cat, a small, long-haired calico

  Lutheann – bonded with Cain, all white

  Carnesto – bonded with Ellie, all black

  The Humans

  Cain – Great-great-grandson of Free Traders Braden & Micah

  Aletha – Cain’s true love who wants to stay home

  Ellie – Cain’s classmate at Space School

  Tandry – classmate at Space School

  DI Katlind – Discipline Instructor at Space School

  SI Hendricks – Space Instructor on the RV Traveler

  Lieutenant Simonds – class escort on the RV Traveler

  Dr. Johns – clone of the Cygnus VI survivor. In charge of the space program

  Captain Rand – captain of the Cygnus-12 Deep Space Exploration ship

  The Hawkoid

  Chirit – Crew member on Cygnus-12, Sensor Operator

  The Tortoid

  Daksha – Third Master of the Tortoise Consortium, son of Aadi, Commander of the Cygnus-12 exploration mission

  The Lizard Men (Amazonians)

  Peekaless – nicknamed “Pickles,” classmate at Space School

  Rastor – Lieutenant, legacy crew member from the Cygnus-12,

  The Rabbits

  Brisbois – called “Briz,” technical genius, classmate at Space
School

  Allard & Beauchene – gardeners assigned to the Cygnus-12

  The Wolfoids

  Black Leaper – called “Stinky,” team leader of the Space School class

  Lieutenant Strider – Engineer aboard the Cygnus-12

  Fire!

  Flames shot through the open hatch. Cain yelled, “Engineering’s on fire!” The klaxons continued to scream, echoing down the corridor away from him. He sensed, more than heard, the anguished cry.

  The hatch was open. The automated fire suppression system had failed.

  He ripped open the damage control panel and pulled the tank out. He threw it hastily over his shoulder, reached behind him with a well-practiced maneuver to start the flow of air, and wrapped the dangling mask across his face. He draped the fire hood over his head as he ran. He didn’t have time to put on the whole outfit. People he knew were dying.

  He hit the flames of the doorway at a dead run. The intense heat scorched his bare forearms as he passed, and he yelled into his mask as he slid to a stop in the middle of the space, looking for survivors. A Rabbit lay under a terminal, an ugly scorch mark cut across his white fur, leaving blackened hair around burned pink flesh. The Rabbit moved–Briz was alive.

  Cain slid him out from under the melting terminal. The Rabbit was dense and blocky, half Cain’s height but the same weight. Cain pulled an equipment cover off the back of a chair, wrapping it around the Rabbit’s head and over as much of his body as he could, then he hefted him up, trying to avoid the injury. Cain lumbered toward the hatch, ducked his head, held his breath, and jumped through the flames. He deposited the Rabbit in the passageway and raced back into engineering. Ellie was in there somewhere.

  He should have been alarmed that the flames didn’t seem to hurt as much this time. The next victim was a Wolfoid, horribly torn apart from the force of an exploded containment vessel. He saw something odd about the way the Wolfoid’s body, bigger than a human’s, was laying on the floor.

  A pink-fleshed hand snaked out from underneath the gray fur. Without remorse, Cain heaved the Wolfoid’s shattered body to the side. Ellie was dazed, but seemed to be okay. The Wolfoid must have taken the full force of the rupture, protecting her. Cain’s breath caught as he looked at her golden blond hair, the ends curled and brittle from the heat that had passed over her.

  He pulled her to him as blue lights started to flash, signaling the imminent flooding of argon gas into the compartment. He kneeled, rolling her from a sitting position to over his shoulder. He stood without much effort. She wasn’t heavy and laid easily over his shoulder as he hurried for the hatch. The flames had died down somewhat, but he still ran through, hoping speed would keep them safe. Once through, he stopped, took off his hood and breathed deeply of the better air in the corridor. The hatch to engineering closed.

  The klaxons stopped as someone helped Ellie from his shoulder, and he looked at the closed hatch. Anyone still in the space would be denied oxygen, just like the fire. The argon gas was supposed to be flushed in a matter of seconds, but it would be too late. He was surprised he didn’t know how many people worked in that space. Three? Four?

  “Holy Rising Star, Cain! You shouldn’t have gone in there. Why the hell would you do something like that?” the captain’s words were harsh, but his eyes were grateful. As the older man looked at the two survivors in the corridor, he added, “But I’m glad you did, son. Looks like you saved two lives, irreplaceable lives.”

  The two Hillcats waiting for Cain and Ellie in the corridor couldn’t have agreed more. Carnesto yowled in pain as Ellie came to her senses. The burns on her lower body attacked her with waves of agony. He put a furry paw on her head to help her through the worst of it.

  Why had Cain taken such risk knowing what his death would do to his ‘cat, to his family? He’d had no choice. It was who he’d always wanted to be. It was who he was. He’d spent his short life trying to live up to one man, the Space Exploration Service Captain who showed him how a hero acts.

  Six Months Ago

  He didn’t know how it started, and he didn’t care. When smoke poured down the school’s hallway, he’d taken Aletha’s hand, and they ran from the building. Others streamed out after them.

  Tears poured down Aletha’s face as they watched flames gut the building where they’d met, where they’d learned about life.

  A man passing by stopped his vehicle and ran toward the school, yelling, asking if everyone was out.

  No one knew. He pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose, wrapped his light jacket around one arm, and bolted through the open main door.

  He was only gone a few heartbeats before two people stumbled out. The man followed, dragging another person, who he deposited on the lawn before going back into the building. He returned twice more with others. The fourth time he entered the building, it collapsed around him. Six people lived because of that man. He didn’t know them. He’d risked everything for strangers.

  He was a captain in the new Space Exploration Service with a promising career ahead. Cain wondered why the man had thrown it all away. He’d asked, but only his father had an idea.

  “It’s what your ancestors did. Free Trader Braden gave up everything to make our world what it is today.” Cain was confused. He’d always thought Braden was the richest man ever.

  “That’s the modern story, son, and that was toward the end of his life. He and his wife probably had more scars than any other people in our history. He risked his life, over and over, without thought of reward, simply because it was the right thing to do,” his father finished. “We come from a proud bloodline. Maybe we need to talk more about what that means.”

  “I agree, but not now. I need time to think,” Cain said softly. He left their home and walked toward the river, deliberately taking a direction away from Aletha’s home.

  I cowered outside while people were dying, he thought, condemning himself. When it became dangerous, I ran. Aletha deserves a better man than that, a man like the captain.

  Without asking anyone’s advice or permission, he’d gone to the recruiter’s office the next day and signed up. And there he sat, waiting for transportation to take him to the space center for his initial training. He’d sent Aletha a short message, telling her that he was leaving.

  Cain sat in the recruiter’s office, still smelling of smoke from yesterday’s fire.

  He expected Aletha to race to the recruiter’s office for a teary farewell. She didn’t come. Her only reply was even shorter than his note. “If that’s what you think you have to do,” was all it said. His ham-handed attempt at controlling her had fallen flat yet again. She made him a better man every day, but he didn’t deserve her. This time, he wouldn’t have a chance to apologize. The transport was there and they were collecting communicators as the recruits boarded. He looked at his blankly as he handed it over and climbed the steps, leaving his old life, and Aletha, far behind.

  The Obstacle Course

  Cain’s assigned bunkmate was a Wolfoid named Black Leaper. There was no idle chatter so they didn’t get the chance to talk. The Wolfoid had the lower bunk because Cain volunteered to climb the small ladder to the upper bed. The Wolfoid would learn over time, because ladders were prevalent throughout the ships in the space fleet. Cain didn’t want his bunkmate to have a harder time than he knew they all would already have.

  Training was about preparing one’s mind to deal with the stress of space. The instructors believed that meant abusing the bodies of all recruits, regardless of fur, feathers, or skin. Everyone was equally accepted and the instructors had no favorites. They treated all recruits like trash, ready to be jettisoned from the nearest airlock.

  Mostly.

  In the millennia leading to present day, only humans had operated spaceships. The designs had been focused solely on human physiology. That was starting to change, but non-humans continued to be at a disadvantage. Cain couldn’t understand why things were still antiquated and arrayed against the other intelligent speci
es.

  He wanted no part of that, so Leaper got the lower bunk. Someone quipped about him sleeping on the floor, which led to Cain tripping the person on their first formation run and “accidentally” stepping on her as he ran past. She got the point, but Cain learned quickly that it wasn’t good to have enemies.

  The next day, they were negotiating the obstacle course, directed to use teamwork to navigate pits, traps, walls, and other barriers. When Cain first looked at it, he wasn’t sure which creatures would best be able to run the entire course. As it turned out, it took all of them.

  Cain ran toward the wall and the slim blond held out her hand for him to grab as he vaulted upward. With an extra kick from the wall, he gained the height he needed to reach the outstretched hand, which she pulled away at the last instant. He grasped at empty air as he started to fall backwards, catching a boot on the wall and landing flat on his back. Black Leaper was there in an instant to pick him up so they could run at the wall together.

  A voice from beyond reverberated across the obstacle course. “RECRUIT! I saw that. Get down here!” A stocky woman with a crewcut stormed across the muddy ground of the obstacle course. Her uniform remained immaculate. Cain stepped back. He thought it was something he did. Leaper thought it was something he had done.