An Alien Rubicon

By Jorge Perez-Jara

Lieutenant Colonel Myles Webb of the American Federated States Space Forces and a small Fleet of human ships are preparing to journey to the Centauri Star system where the Cheeb'Arr lurk and now call home. But he will not make the trip alone, since man's ally, the Hee’Umana, will also join him in facing off with the enemy. The odds of them being victorious against their foe grows larger as time passes, since their hesitation merely gives the Cheeb'Arr ample time to reinforce their position.
As the small Terran Battle Fleet and its allies are about to depart from the Sol system, the Cheeb'Arr make their presence own once more. But this time they employ new tactics, which man and their ally the Hee'Umana have never seen before. Now the Fleet must postpone their journey to the Centauri system until they are certain that the fortifications scattered throughout the Sol system are sufficient to halt the new Cheeb'Arr attack. If the newly constructed fortifications are not sufficient, they must remain behind and help eliminate the threat. But as Lieutenant Colonel Webb and the Terran Battle Fleet battle the presence currently within the Sol system, they are unaware that there are other plans in the works by the enemy. The Hee’Umana is harden to face the unknown and they suspect a trap, when they witness the Cheeb'Arr's new tactic. But will that be enough to prepare them for what is about to come?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jorge Perez-Jara
• Release date: Aug 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301997527

Jorge Perez-Jara

Jorge L. Perez-Jara graduated from Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona in 1986. After graduation, he attended Arizona State University and joined the United States Air Force shortly afterwards. He is a military Veteran who served during the 1990-91’ Gulf War “Desert Shield/Desert Storm” in the Middle East. He has traveled to many parts of the world, while he served in the U.S. Air Force and has experienced and done many things. While he served on Active Duty, he had the opportunity to interact with different people and cultures. He was Honorably Discharged and now enjoys spending his time writing and researching ancient cultures. His writings consist of personal experiences as well as Science Fiction.

Book preview

An Alien Rubicon

By

Jorge L. Perez-Jara

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Jorge L. Perez-Jara on Smashwords

An Alien Rubicon

Copyright © 2013 Jorge L. Perez-Jara

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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An Alien Rubicon

Other Books By Jorge L. Perez-Jara

The Alien Series:

An Alien Encounter

An Alien Presence

An Alien War

The Combined Service Marines:

Combined Service Marines - Lunar Cache

Combined Service Marines - Terra Incognita

Combined Service Marines - Titanus Malleus

Other Books:

The Ocean Depths

Table of 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 1

The Hee’Umana Space Carrier the Crra’Tyrr, which was part of the alien presence within the Sol system and the aliens’ Shee’Marr Command, slowly made its way through the asteroid belt as it patrolled the field within the human controlled star system. The Space Carrier had been doing this for the past six months and its replacement was due to arrive soon. That was a great relief to Lieutenant Colonel Myles Webb of the American Federated States, Terran Battle Fleet. He was the only human serving within the alien Shee’Marr Command. He was also the only one onboard who had trouble adjusting to living and working in space for long periods of time.

Unlike the rest of his crew, he was acclimatized to living on the surface of a planet or at the very least of having firm ground underneath his feet. He was also more confident working within natural gravity than an artificial one, which the alien ship he commanded provided.

And even though he was the only human onboard the menacing-looking alien ship, he had been given the title of a Sub-Commander within the alien military structure. It had been three years since Myles had been given the position and rank he currently held and now he was in command of one of the largest and most powerful alien warships in space within the Sol system. That timeframe also spoke of how long he had been away from Earth and he was ready for a break.

The present crew was accustomed to such things, since they were an alien race that had a long history of exploring, fighting, and living in space, but he was not. The aliens called themselves the Hee’Umana and they had stumbled upon the human race by accident, while they were collecting data on a newly developed and untested antimatter propulsion drive on the opposite side of the galaxy.

While the Hee’Umana had been in the middle of experimenting with this new space drive, they had been ambushed by their long time enemy the Cheeb’Arr. The confrontation had been a fierce one and the Hee’Umana had stood their ground. But in the end, they had to make a hasty retreat since they had two civilian research ships with them. They also had the responsibility of returning the collected data from the testing they had conducted to Command, which they had been responsible for. That was something the Shee’Marr would not normally do, but they had been under orders. So with the added duty of providing a safe environment to the research ships and the data they had collected, they had to disengage and make a jump into hyperspace in an attempt to protect both.

Unfortunately, their hastily prepared jump into hyperspace had been a gamble, since their main systems had been heavily damaged during the confrontation and were rendered inoperative. And since the repairs would have been impossible to make while under attack, the alien commander had ordered the activation and utilization of their new antimatter reaction drives. But since their new drives had not been fully tested or calibrated, it had accidently transported them to uncharted space. And since their ships had all sustained damage, they had to limp to the nearest star system in hopes of repairing their small taskforce of damaged ships.

The system closest to the Hee’Umana was the Alpha Centauri system, but their planetary system probes did not detect anything of value there, therefore, they had dispatched multiple probes to the other nearby systems. Once the data from the other probes had been retrieved, they had select the Sol system as the most promising candidate to retreat to and initiate the badly needed repairs to their ships.

As the small Hee’Umana taskforce of damaged ships approached the Sol system, they had detected the human presence within it. And since the newly discovered system contained an intelligent species, they had been forced to open communications with the sentient life present. And with that initial contact, mankind had been thrown into countless situations, which it had been ill-prepared for.

Fortunately, the Hee’Umana had been a receptive civilization, when it came to others and an alliance had been forged between the two species. It was an alliance which had greatly benefitted the human race in the three years since its inception, but it also had its drawbacks.

Sub-Commander, First Warrior Rzar’Taa of the Shee’Marr Command and the first officer of the Crra’Tyrr broke into Myles’ thoughts.

All Command ships carried a first officer that was completely loyal to the ship’s commander.

Yes, what is it? replied Myles as he attempted to clear his head of all unnecessary thoughts. He knew he had been daydreaming as of late, but they had been out on patrol for several months now and fatigue was setting in. He was ready to be relieved. Man wasn’t made for space, he told himself. What do you have for me? he asked after a moment.

We have detected an unknown contact near one of the larger asteroids within the field, but we are having a difficult time establishing a lock on it, said Rzar’Taa as he scrutinized the holotank before him. The hologram that hung in midair in front of the alien displayed everything within space around them and also provided additional information concerning the present contact. At times, the information was overwhelming, but they had their neural net implants to create order out of the chaos within it. We have tried boosting power to our long range sensors on multiple frequencies, Sub-Commander. But with all the debris floating within the asteroid field, it has proven difficult to get an accurate reading of the unknown contact’s identification. He turned to face Myles. He waited a moment for a response, but when none came, he asked. What are your orders, Sub-Commander?

What type of contact, First Warrior?

Unknown at the moment, but it has a small cross signature and it is transmitting. Rzar’Taa manipulated the control console before him to try and get more information from the ship’s AI, but his attempt did not produce any new results. We have attempted to intercept the signal, but we cannot get a clear lock on it, he said.

Huh, Myles grunted as he studied the holotank as well. He knew full well that even though their current enemy, the Cheeb’Arr, had not made themselves known in almost a year, they were still out there and actively testing the human defenses. Why can’t we lock onto its signal? he asked after a moment of thought. Is it due to the debris within the field?

Unknown, Sub-Commander, but I would venture to say that the asteroid field’s debris has something to do with it, said Rzar’Taa as he used his neural net implants to retrieve the latest information from the Crra’Tyrr’s AI. The sophisticated computer monitored and controlled every aspect of the ship and it also provided them with the most current information pertaining to space around them. The unknown contact is transmitting by utilizing a tight beam communications relay. These two reasons are why our systems are having a difficult time locking on to the unknown’s signal.

That would make sense, said Myles as he erected himself to his full size within his Battlesuit.

The suit was an armored exoskeleton combat suit which the aliens had provided him, when he had been given his current position within the Shee’Marr Command. With it Myles could access anything within the ship’s memory banks and he could also control it by mere thought. The suit also gave him the ability to communicate with the Hee’Umana as well as enhancing his strength and motor-skills. It was something every crew member on the Crra’Tyrr wore, while performing their duties onboard the alien Carrier.

Myles could hear as his Battlesuit’s computer activated all the required systems to move the heavy armor that he was encased in. The exoskeleton suit was a gift from the Hee’Umana. One that he at first didn’t want, but it was now something he could not do without. The personal armor suit that he wore underneath it was also something he could not discard for long, since it aided him in controlling the Battlesuit and also translated the alien tongue into something he could read and understand. Without his personal armor suit, he wouldn’t have been able to communicate with them or their technology. That was something he was required to do, since he had been assigned one of the largest Command ships within the Shee’Marr military structure.

Sub-Commander, what are your orders? prodded the First Warrior.

Yes? replied Myles as he broke out of his trance once again. What was that?

About the unknown contact, Sub-Commander, what are your orders?

Yes, the unknown, repeated Myles as he thought about their orders.

They were part of the forward defenses within human controlled space, but they had been regulated to patrolling the asteroid belt. That was where most of the system probes the Cheeb’Arr had dispatched to the Sol system attempted to hide, since there was an abundance of material to utilize as cover. And since the Crra’Tyrr was a Space Carrier with a vast fleet of space fighters, it was only logical to assign them to the asteroid belt. While there, they could deploy their fighters in an attempt to curtail the enemy’s incursion of the system.

The Space Carrier had a complement of 50,000 Avenger-class fighters of alien design, 10,000 Marauder-class planetary assault bombers, 100 transports to carry troops to a planet’s surface, and over 200,000 personal as well. This made it one of the most formidable ships within the Shee’Marr Command and within Sol space. Dispatch two Avenger-craft to that location and have them make a complete sweep of the area, Myles finally said. "Once they’ve locate the unknown contact, have them report back immediately.

When we know what we’re facing, then we’ll go on from there. He called up the latest reports and quickly reviewed them. Other than the unknown contact, the space around them was quiet. "Rzar’Taa, instruct Commander Janus not to be too eager to engage the contact. If it turns out to be an enemy probe, we need to try and take it in one piece. We need to know what the Cheeb’Arr are up to and space debris won’t tell us much of anything.

We require a live hostage to interrogate and extract information, even though we know for a fact that the Creeps don’t cooperate very well in that regard. He shook his head at the thought. He had used the term most of the ASF and the Terran Battle Fleet used whenever they spoke about the Cheeb’Arr. It wasn’t the proper form of referring to the enemy, but most of the Grunts within the fleet had adopted it. She must still try everything in her power to capture the system probe in one piece and its passenger. Have I made myself clear?

I comply, replied the First Warrior as he relayed Myles’ latest orders. He was also aware of the difficulty in keeping any one of the enemy alive and of extracting any information from them, but they kept trying. I have ordered the Commander to investigate and report.

Very well.

During all the times Myles had clashed with the enemy, he had never been able to take any prisoners that gave up anything of value. Every time they had managed to capture one of them alive, they had died within days of captivity without offering any information. He had been told by the Hee’Umana that that was the way of the Hive. That was how the Hive Queen, her Drones, and Sub-Queens were able to control the vast legions of Drones under their command at any given time. If one ever became detached from the influence of the Hive, the Hive Queen or the Queens assigned to them, they would eventually die from disconnection. That, Myles told himself, made it very difficult to gain any valuable knowledge on the enemy and their movements.

As the First Warrior monitored the holotank before him, he saw as both fighters exited the docking bay and sped away from the Crra’Tyrr. The Avenger-class heavy fighters were highly maneuverable as well as thickly armored, which came in handy during large confrontations. It also had its own energy shield to stave off beam weapons. The small fighter carried only one crew member, but that was all that was required to handle its avionics and weapons. The fighter did not have the capability to jump into hyperspace, but it did have the speed to out run most adversaries if the need arose.

While the two fighters sped away from the Crra’Tyrr, the First Warrior fed them updates concerning their objective. The unknown contact had begun to turn toward the large asteroid it was skirting and appeared to move in its direction. As the contact closed in on the asteroid, the ship’s detection systems began to have a hard time tracking it. The First Warrior attempted to compensate for the distortion by increasing power to the systems involved, but it didn’t make a difference. As the unknown contact got closer to the large asteroid within the field, the systems onboard the Space Carrier began to lose track of it. The contact began to wink in and out of the ship’s sensors and after a moment, it was gone completely.

Commander, said Rzar’Taa through his neural net implants. We have lost track of the unknown contact. From here on, you and the Warrior with you are on your own.

I comply, First Warrior, replied Commander Brianna Janus, Terran Battle Fleet, in command of the two fighters. We’ll report once we have made contact with the unknown.

Very well.

The First Warrior knew there was nothing more he could do, so they would have to rely solely on the fighters to investigate the contact and neutralize it if need be. Since they could no longer detect the unknown contact, they were blind as to what its true intentions were within the asteroid belt. But he knew there was nothing to fear, since the entire capabilities of the Space Carrier were available if the contact turned out to be hostile.

The Cheeb’Arr system probe slowly skirted the large asteroid’s surface as it attempted to avoid detection. The Fighter Drone seated within the small cockpit of the system probe studied the screen before it and kept an eye out for approaching enemy fighters. The probe’s computer had raised the alarm once since entering the enemy occupied system, but it was nothing to be concerned about, it told itself. It was known that the aliens that called this system home and their allies had scattered early warning probes and sensors throughout the system. It was also well known that they had active patrols throughout the system and its perimeter. But even with all that hardware floating about by the enemy, it knew it had not been detected in time to determine its intentions.

In the beginning, these detection systems had not deterred the Cheeb’Arr Sub-Queen from sending in probe after probe in hopes of finding a weakness in the human defenses. But now that the humans had allied with their longtime enemy the Hee’Umana, penetrating the system was becoming more difficult to do. More of their system probes were being intercepted and data on the enemy was becoming harder to come by as time went by. But this didn’t bother the Sub-Queen or the Hive, since system probes could easily be replaced. As far as the Fighter Drones occupying them, they were expendable as well. The Hive Queen would merely hatch new larvae to replace their losses and maintain their level of Drones. This was nothing new to the Hive and the Hive Queen. It had always been this way and as far as the Fighter Drones were concerned, this was their lot in life. But it was something they were willing to do, since it only strengthened the Hive.

Once the Fighter Drone determined that it was safe from detection, it diverted most of the system probe’s power to its sensors and began to make a sweep of the space around it. It was known that the enemy was near and that it had a considerable amount of firepower with it, so it knew it had to remain hidden to accomplish its mission. It didn’t want to be another statistic amongst many that had already paid with their lives and failed as well in their duties. It wanted to prove that it was worthy of the opportunity given it to spy on their enemy and their new allies.

The Fighter Drone knew it had been given more of a free will than the others that had remained behind and it didn’t want to waste such a gift. It was rare when the Hive Queen allowed such practices amongst the lower-class Drones. That was something that was mostly reserved for the Drone or Sub-Queens, while they were away from the Hive. The Hive was safety. The Hive was its brethren. The Hive was Life. The Hive was everything. Without the Hive, it was nothing. Without the Hive there was no meaning and no bliss, so it had to succeed if it wanted to stay connected to it. And it could only remain relevant and connected, if it returned with the required information concerning the enemy and their movements.

While the system probe’s sensors reached out and scanned everything around it, the Fighter Drone closed its eyes and allowed the computer to do all the work. If there was a problem, it would raise an alarm to notify it of any approaching danger. For the moment, there was nothing to concern it, so it could relax and think of the Hive and of the Sub-Queen’s mental cooing. A cooing that placed many of them in a trance-like state, which they all relished. It was warmth. It was safety. It was life.

With that last thought, the Fighter Drone began to coo to itself and mentally smiled. The Sub-Queen would do that at times to invigorate them and fill them with purpose. But she was not here to do that, so it had to do it itself. It was not the same of course, but it was enough to see it through. Space was cold and silent around it, but its cooing was mesmerizing and filled it with joy. It would have to do for now.

The two Hee’Umana Avenger-class fighters increased their speed once they were clear of the Crra’Tyrr. The Space Carrier already had a small defensive force of fighters providing it a protective perimeter and patrolling the surrounding space, but they were not allowed to deviate from their present responsibilities, therefore, the two dispatched fighters had to rendezvous with the unknown contact by themselves and determine if it was friend or foe. The mission was simple enough, thought Brianna, but there were others concerns. None that she could do anything about at the moment, but it was good that she was aware of them.

Even though many thought asteroid fields were crowded due to all the debris floating within them, that was not entirely the case. There was plenty of room to maneuver within most of them and the asteroid belt within the solar system was no exception. It was not compact like the rings of Saturn, which were a type of asteroid field. But since they orbited a planet, the gravity of the celestial body pulled on them constantly and that made them more compact. That was also the reason why most planetary rings only held small asteroids and debris. Since there was constant pulling and tugging from the planet’s gravitational forces, the asteroids within the rings around them would collide regularly and break apart. That made traveling through such fields extremely dangerous, so the Hee’Umana would normally avoid them.

At their current speed, the fighters had increased the distance between themselves and the Carrier quickly. As the Warrior glanced back, he could barely make out the outline of the Crra’Tyrr. Switching on sensors and beginning a sweep of the asteroids around us, he said.

Sounds like a plan, replied Brianna as she activated the sensors of her fighter as well. As she watched the small holotank before her, she noted that occasionally there was a flicker within it. That indicated that the sensors had picked up something, but they were having a difficult time locking on to whatever object was out there. Preliminary scans indicate something ahead of us…somewhere near the larger asteroid ahead. She attempted to get a better reading of the contact, but the fighter’s sensors still could not lock onto it. What are your system sensors telling you? she asked her companion.

Wait one, said the lead Warrior as he studied the holotank within his fighter. He also noticed the slight detection of something that kept slipping in and out of the sensor’s reach. He knew it could not be anything large because if it was he would have been able to get a lock on it, but he could not. There was also the fact that the Cheeb’Arr didn’t possess the ability to cloak their ships. Unless, he told himself, they have acquired new technology without us knowing it. I do not like this, he finally said.

What is it that you don’t like? Questioned Brianna. She felt the same, but she welcomed his opinion. Hell, it’s a game of cat and mouse.

I do not like the fact that we cannot get a clear lock on the contact, said the Warrior. He studied the holotank once more, but there was nothing new within it. The contact kept slipping in and out of the sensor’s detection as before. Commander, I suggest we go into cloak mode. We will search for this unknown, but we will do it our way. He is not the only one that can hide.

Great idea, answered Brianna as she activated the fighter’s cloaking systems.

Within seconds, the fighter shimmered, then it took on the properties of the space around it. As both fighters moved deeper into the asteroid field, they disappeared from view.

Chapter 2

The scene was pure bliss within the mind of the Fighter Drone. It was back on the Homeworld of the central Hive. As its mind wandered, it skimmed the planet and flew over great cities on its surface. Their city planning and layout was nothing like other civilizations, since they hardly built on the surface of any given planet. The cities were merely large swathes of worked land that held a large concentration of activity. The Hive was not known for building great structures, monuments, or statues to themselves. It was something other civilizations did, but the Hive did not. No, their cities were meant to be efficient, orderly, and functional. There was no time or energy wasted on aesthetics or material luxuries. Those were things that the Hive didn’t crave or need. That was a weaker species’ foolishness, not the Hives’. The Hive Queen didn’t dabble in providing comfort or material things to the large throng of Drones she commanded, which toiled away at her pleasure. All they required was her touch. Her presence. Her cooing. Her warmth.

As the Fighter Drone kept its mind focused on the strength of the Hive and their Queen, it realized that it was almost upon its goal. It mentally looked up and ahead and was rewarded with the sight that all Drones relished. The Hive Queen’s compound and chambers was just ahead of it. As it got closer, the Hive Queen’s cooing reached its mind and it began to mentally sway back and forth in harmony with her cooing. It was slowly making its way into the trance that would bring it absolute bliss. The Drone cooed in return. The Hive Queen cooed back in a higher pitch in response. It was mesmerizing. It was invigorating. It was what it craved.

The Fighter Drone attempted to coo back at the same pitch, but the Hive Queen’s tone was unattainable. She, her Drone, and Sub-Queens were the only ones that could hit these notes. But to be fair, even the other minor Queens could not attain certain tones. They had not been elevated to the status of the Hive Queen, so they could only attempt to match her—but they failed miserably. There was only one Hive Queen at any given time that led the Hive. The others would just have to wait until one of them was elevated to Hive Queen once the current one passed on. But that wouldn’t be any time soon, so the Fighter Drone cast the thought aside and relished the Hive Queen’s attention at the moment.

The Hive Queen’s tone within the Fighter Drone’s head was pure bliss and the cooing was beginning to reach a feverish pitch, but then the connection was severed. The Drone sat up quickly within its tiny cockpit due to the interruption and hissed loudly with great anger. It awoke from its trance and savagely twisted its head in all directions in an attempt to find the reason for the connection being severed. It didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in space around it, but then its eyes fell on the screen before it. The system probe’s silent proximity alarm had been triggered. The enemy is close, it told itself. That meant that it was time to get back to work and to put an end to its mental and foolish wandering.

The Fighter Drone kept its eyes glued to the small screen in front of it as it attempted to locate the enemy, but its sensors could not locate its foe’s fighters. It knew they were close since the alarm would not have gone off if they were not, but it couldn’t locate them on the screen. The probe’s sensors were blind due to the extensive debris floating about. But it had compensated for that, it told itself. Before it had arrived, it had distributed miniature sensors along the perimeter of the asteroid and its current surroundings. Unless, it told itself, as another thought crossed its mind, there’s more.

There is only one other reason for this, the Fighter Drone thought. The enemy has cloaked their ships. And if that was the case, its sensors wouldn’t be able to penetrate the enemy’s cloaking technology. They had tried many times before to penetrate the enemy’s cloaking capabilities and technology, but they didn’t possess the required skills to do so. All the technology the Cheeb’Arr had at its disposal had been acquired by way of conquest, salvage of space derelicts, and vanquished enemies. Nothing was of their own manufacturing, since they didn’t possess the cognitive skills for such feats. The Hive survived on cunning and because of their great numbers in battle. Nothing within its possession was replicated or back-engineered. They did not possess such capabilities.

The Fighter Drone slowly increased power to the system probe it rode in. It was hopeful that this would increase the effectiveness of its sensors. As the power to the probe increased, it watched the screen like a hawk. The Drone switched back and forth between the sensor readings and the power indicator. The readings on the screen read at just over fifteen percent power, yet the sensors still could not detect anything. It pushed on the power lever a little more, but stopped just short of twenty percent. Any more than that and it would flash its presence to the enemy as if the probe was a torch lamp in the darkness of space. That it would not do since it was all alone within the enemy system. It had no support here and none would be coming, if it required it.

The Fighter Drone knew it could not stay idle on the surface of the asteroid, especially if it didn’t want to be detected. Yes, any movement on its part increased the chances of being detected by the enemy, but sitting still on the surface also made it an easy target. The Drone didn’t relish the thought of being easy prey, so it activated all of its systems onboard the probe and began to formulate a plan of escape. It knew it would require more cunning than it was allowed to possess, so it actively cried out mentally. It hoped that the Sub-Queen would hear its cry and advise it as to what to do.

But as the Fighter Drone sat there, it concluded that there would be no reply. Either the Sub-Queen was busy or it chose to ignore it. But whatever the reason, it didn’t matter at the moment. The enemy was closing in and it needed to act. The Drone quickly glanced at the screen before it and attempted to formulate a plan. As it studied the screen nothing came to mind, so it glanced out into space, but that didn’t offer it any solutions either.

As the Fighter Drone desperately sought an answer to its dilemma, it locked its eyes in the direction the sensors told it the enemy was. It studied the space in question intently, but nothing materialized within it. The space above the asteroid was completely black and nothing appeared out of place. It struggled with the possibility that its mission might fail due to its inability to think for itself. The thought of failing the Hive and the Sub-Queen was almost all that it could tolerate. It had come so far, avoided its enemy, and had penetrated deep into the enemy held system, but for what, it asked itself? Just so that it could die within reach of its goal?

The Fighter Drone agonized in its head and thrashed about within the system probe. The idea that it had come so far and had failed nonetheless was unbearable. It shrieked loudly within the cockpit of the probe. The sound resounded within the small confined space, but it didn’t care. The mission was everything to it and it was about to fail. It once more let out a horrible scream that appeared to pierce the blackness of space around it.

The Hive Queen had felt the Fighter Drone’s presence and responded to it. And even though she and it were light-years away, she had awarded it with her cooing. She entered the Drone’s mind slowly and mentally caressed it as she searched its inner thoughts. She could feel it respond to her

Reviews for An Alien Rubicon

[Stef · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I like the story. I want to read more, please!