A Sleeping Giant

By Trevor Marsh

Ten years have passed since the end of the Human-Denkar War which first brought Sam and Michelle together. Sam is now an ambassador to the S'lorian Empire, an ancient species who came to the aid of the United Earth Federation in its greatest moment of need. Michelle has been promoted to the rank of rear admiral and is now in command of her own taskforce of warships patrolling the S'lorian border. All seems quiet in the galaxy, but a looming challenge to the peace is rising.

Old forces awakened by recent conflicts are stirring from their lumber, seeking to reclaim what was once theirs. Sam's diplomatic skills will be challenged as he seeks to unite friends and enemies alike in an effort to stem the rising tide of conflict as Michelle battles on the front lines to defend humanity from alien threats. Their efforts will help to reshape the known galaxy for better or worse. Only time will tell if their efforts will succeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trevor Marsh
• Release date: May 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310015069

Trevor Marsh

I have a lot of science fiction influences in my life that have driven me towards writing. Besides all the science fiction I’ve read, watched, and played over the years I have also tried to incorporate my own personal experiences in my writing. I was raised in a military family myself, but I ultimately took a different path in life. My father proudly served in the United States Navy for thirty years, retiring as a captain. Growing up as a navy brat, I was constantly fascinated by military technology, history, tactics, and strategies. I was also offered the opportunity to grow up in a variety of locations around the world. The one that influenced me the most was Singapore. Seeing so many different people and cultures mixed together in one place was a very eye opening experience for me. From that point on, I knew I wanted to work in a field where I would constantly be interacting with people from all over the world. My studies eventually led me to studying international relations and political science in college, followed quickly by a legal degree with a focus on international law. My interest in geopolitics and diplomacy heavily influenced the non-military aspects of my science fiction writing.

Book preview

A Sleeping Giant

Book Two of the Worlds of Words and War series

Trevor Marsh

Copyright © 2016 Trevor Marsh

Distributed by Smashwords

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, events, or places are purely coincidental; any references to actual places, people, or brands are fictitious. All rights reserved.

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Epilogue

About Trevor Marsh

Connect with Trevor Marsh

Acknowledgements

To my wonderful fiancée Mary. Your constant support and encouragement keep me writing and your assistance in the editing process is always appreciated. This book is dedicated to you.

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Prologue

February 21, 2372, Lotherian System, Uncharted Space

May I be excused? Tolen asked from his desk, his long fur-covered arm raised in question in an attempt to get his teacher’s attention.

Why do you feel you need to leave the classroom? Tolen’s teacher asked as she turned around from writing a math equation on the board at the front of the room.

As she turned to face her students, a tiny head popped out of the pouch located on her abdomen. If a human ever encountered Tolen’s teacher, or any Lotherian at all, they would mostly likely assume they were looking at an overly large kangaroo of some kind. Since the Lotherian civilization was only just entering its own information and space age meant no humans had ever seen a Lotherian before, but that did little to change the fact that both Tolen and his teacher shared many similar characteristics with the marsupials of Australia.

I need to use the restroom, Tolen said simply, with a slight sly smile creeping across his face that his teacher seemed to pick up on quite quickly.

This sudden need of yours to use the restroom wouldn’t have anything to do with the calculus quiz we are about take would it? Tolen’s teacher asked as her young pup continued to quietly gaze around the room, taking in the sight of Tolen and his classmates sitting at their desks. It was a warm afternoon as bright sunlight filtered through the building’s many large windows.

No, Tolen flatly replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He clearly had not expected his teacher to correctly guess at his ulterior motive.

I’m sorry Tolen but I’m going to have to ask you to remain at your seat, Tolen’s teacher said sternly, all too well aware that Tolen had a history of cheating when it came to calculus quizzes.

He was likely trying to leave the room so he would get the answers from a friend of his who had taken the quiz earlier in the day. Tolen’s teacher sighed as she turned around once again to continue writing her equation on the board. Tolen was easily one of her brightest students, but he was also intellectually lazy. If he would apply just half the amount of effort he put into cheating into actually studying for his exams he would be an honor roll student for sure.

But I really need to go, Tolen spoke up once again, refusing to give up.

I said no, Tolen’s teacher replied coldly, turning away from the board once again. You’ll just have to wait until…

At that moment a sudden, thunderous noise struck the classroom, followed immediately by deep trembling within the ground and the shattering of all the room’s windows at once. As his fellow students screamed in surprise and distress, it was Tolen who leapt from his desk to rush to the ruined windows in an effort to see what was going on outside.

To the south of the school, Tolen would see a massive pillar of smoke rising from what had once been one of Lotherian Prime’s largest military bases. Now, the site was nothing more than a gaping, smoking crater in the ground, several kilometers in diameter at least. The school was on a hill far enough away from the initial blast to save the lives of Tolen and his classmates, but the area immediately surrounding the military base was a scene of utter chaos with emergency vehicles rushing to respond to the catastrophe.

Did something explode in the base? one of Tolen’s classmates cried out in alarm upon approach the remains of the window.

I don’t think so, Tolen responded, consciously ignoring the pleas of his teacher to return to his seat as his attention remained focused on the events taking place outside.

Suddenly, as if in confirmation of Tolen’s assertion, several streaks of blinding light cut their way through the already gathering cloud of dust and debris in the sky above the shattered military base, striking several auxiliary and outlying missile defense sites with impacts powerful enough to create their own miniature craters. Whatever had happened to the base was not an accident.

Thinking quickly, Tolen rushed over to the classroom’s rarely used television and turned it on. Tolen’s teacher was still too busy trying to calm her other students to worry about Tolen so he was free to quickly flip through the channels until he found a news broadcast. The news anchor, likely sitting at a desk in one of Lotherian Prime’s major cities, was relaying reports of massive explosions all across the planet. Reports of satellite communication disruptions hitting just before the blasts were making it difficult to piece together what was happening, but then the channel cut away from the anchor to a live camera feed just outside Tusanka, Lotherian Prime’s capital city. Tolen watched in awe as several Lotherian military fighters were captured by the news camera as they flew over the city towards the outskirts of town where a large shadow was descending from the sky through heavy cloud cover. As the clouds finally parted, it became clear on the news feed that the shadow was cast by a vessel of some kind, with large, long swept golden wings. The vessel was taking up station several kilometers above Tusanka, oblivious to the panic it was causing on the streets below as the capital’s citizens fled in terror. The fighter jets Tolen saw earlier suddenly reappeared on the screening, firing their missiles at the presumed invaders. The Lotherian missiles streak towards their massive target, only to impact harmlessly on some kind of energy shield encasing the golden vessel. In response to the attack, the alien ship returned fire with piercing rays of what appeared to be pure light, hitting each Lotherian fighter head-on and instantly vaporizing each of them.

Tolen could see smaller vessels detaching from the main ship at this point. They were making their way down into the city below. As they touched down, hundreds of alien soldiers began to stream out of them and form defensive perimeters around their drop ships. Tolen was mesmerized by the invading warrior’s armor, a mixture of brilliant gold, deep reds, and dark blues all offset by the grey skin of the tall invaders. Most of the enemy troops measured two and a half meters in height, dwarfing the few Lotherian police officers who were putting up a weak resistance to their landing efforts. Suddenly, the live camera feed was terminated as the picture filled with static for a moment before it refocused on a grey-skinned, elongated alien face.

People of Lotherian Prime, the invader said stoically in very basic language that sounded distorted almost as if it were coming out of a machine, we have eliminated most of your advanced military capabilities, including your nuclear weapons. Lay down your remaining arms and you will not be harmed further. Resist and you will be dealt with harshly. You are all now subjects of the glorious S’lorian Empire and you will submit to our rule or die.

Chapter One

March 2, 2372, Torten system, S’lorian Empire

Samuel Lawrence was in a particularly good mood as he walked into his ambassadorial office in the United Earth Federation embassy on Torten, the home world of the S’lorian people and the capital of their empire. The UEF was the first alien civilization to open an embassy on Torten in at least a thousand years so to commemorate the opening of diplomatic relations with the S’lorian Empire no expense had been spared in the construction of the embassy. The same went for Sam’s lavishly appointment office. Given the key role Sam played in bringing the S’lorian Empire in on the side of the UEF during the Human-Denkar War of 2361, his appointment as Earth’s first ambassador to Torten had been a given. While Sam had little need for the ostentatious of the office he currently worked in, complete with a vaulted ceiling and magnificent glass windows overlooking the bustling metropolis of Torten’s capital city, Sam was never one to turn away a reward he rightly deserved.

Sam was actually whistling as he smiled and said good morning to his assistant, Zhang Wei, who sat just outside the doors to Sam’s office looking sharp as ever in one of his finely tailored suits.

Good morning sir, the always impeccably dressed Wei said as Sam approached his desk. What has you in such a good mood this morning; if you don’t mind me asking?

Not at all, Sam replied happily. On my in to the office this morning my holopad informed me that I’ve just received a video message from Michelle.

Ah, Wei replied with a tone of understand, I see. How long has it been since she’s last contacted you?

About a month or so, Sam replied casually, even though he knew in his mind that it was exactly thirty-three days since he had received Michelle’s last message and responded with one of his own.

If Sam were to be totally honest with himself, he should have been incredibly impressed with the speed of interstellar travel these days, given the vast distances between him and Michelle. Sam’s posting was in the heart of the S’lorian Empire, while Michelle was currently on station in the border system of Gliese, commanding a UEF naval taskforce there charged with running standard border patrol operations. To communicate with Michelle, Sam had to send out a message via communication laser to one of the Torten system’s wormhole relay stations. The station would wait until it accumulated a certain amount of messages, then it would release an automated communications drone through its wormhole to be picked up by a twin station on the other side. The twin station would then beam all the gathered messages across its system to various other relay stations, thus creating a communications chain stretching hundreds of light years across. Still, Sam could not help but be annoyed by the slushiness of such a system since it offered no practical way for him to communicate in real time with the women he had been seeing for the last ten years.

Ever since the end of the Human-Denkar War, Michelle and Sam had been constantly torn apart from each other by the demands of their jobs. Whenever Michelle could actually accrue enough leave time to take a vacation in their shared home town of San Diego, some diplomatic crisis would suddenly always seem to flare up on the edge of human space which would demand Sam’s immediate attention. The same went for the rare occasions where Sam was the one with free time only to learn that Michelle was away on deployments with the UEF Navy for six months at a time. In the past ten years, Sam and Michelle had spent maybe a grand total of three years in each other’s physical company, which made every message from Michelle that much more precious to Sam.

I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear back from you too, Wei said encouragingly, snapping Sam out of his reminiscing about interstellar communications protocols.

Indeed, Sam said in reply. Please make sure I’m not disturbed for the next thirty minutes or so. I’d like to view Michelle’s message without interruption so unless the galaxy begins falling apart in the next half an hour I’d like to keep the doors closed.

Will do sir, Wei cheerfully said as he pushed a button on his desk which began opening the large wooden doors to Sam’s office.

Once inside, Sam quickly walked over to his mahogany desk, specially imported from Earth, and set about the task of settling in to view Michelle’s message. When Michelle’s imagine appeared on the holoscreen built into his desk, Sam was struck by her beauty as he always was. Her dark brown eyes perfectly matched her caramel colored skin. Her mother’s ancestral side of the family was evident in the slight Asiatic features in her facial structure and when she smiled, as she was doing in the video, a slight crinkle would always appear on the bridge of her nose. Sam was not a bad looker himself, his sandy blonde hair and tan skin suggesting he had spent most of his youth growing up on the beaches of San Diego trying to catch the perfect wave, but in Sam’s blue eyes Michelle was the epitome of physical perfection. Of course, after ten years of dating, it was easy for Sam and Michelle to both overlook each other’s minor physical imperfections as most couples did after being together for so long. Sam was snapped out of his momentary stupor when Michelle’s image began to speak.

Hey Sam, Michelle began, I hope this message finds you well as always. Sorry I wasn’t able to respond very quickly after you sent your last communication to me. Things have been very hectic here and I’ve had a lot on my plate.

Sam nodded in understanding. Since the end of the Human-Denkar War, the UEF had instituted a crash rebuilding program to replace the heavy loses it suffered in the alien invasion. As a result, Michelle was quickly promoted up the ladder from a captain of a mere destroyer all the way to being a rear admiral in command of an entire UEF Navy taskforce. Taskforce 36 was tasked with guarding the Gliese system which was humanity’s sole connecting star system to S’lorian space. Once an abandoned backwater filled with pirates, Gliese was now a teeming hub of interstellar trade and commerce thanks to the opening of friendly relations between the S’lorian Empire and the United Earth Federation. All that freighter traffic meant someone had to manage the swarms of angry and frustrated merchant captains trying to get through the wormhole first, and the UEF Admiralty had decided that someone had to be Sam’s girlfriend inconveniently enough.

We’ve just instituted some new protocols for all arrivals and departures which have most of the merchant guilds I’m dealing with up in arms about overextended timetables and such, but for the most part I’m keeping a handle on thing, Michelle continued with a sly smile forming at the edge of her lips. You know how… persuasive I can be.

Sam chuckled at that. In their relationship, Michelle usually got whatever it was that she wanted. Sam tended to have a more laid back attitude about life in general, so when it came time for a decision to be made he was usually fine with letting Michelle have her way. On the few occasions where he had actually tried to change something he learned exactly how persuasive Michelle could be.

In other news, I think I’ve got some leave time coming up soon. I was thinking…

Before the visual representation of Michelle could finish her thought, Sam’s office doors flew open and Wei came rushing through the door with a holopad in his hand.

Sir, I know you didn’t want to be disturbed, Sam’s assistant called out, his normally neat appearance no longer visible due to the rumpled look of his suit from the haste with which he must have gotten up from his desk, but I’ve just received some news I knew you’d want to hear about right away.

Sam took a moment to engage in a short breathing exercise that Michelle had taught him a few months ago to help him deal with his quick temper. After clearing his head, Sam motioned for Wei to approach with the holopad. Sam trusted his assistant a great deal, so whatever news he brought must be highly important to justify interrupting Michelle’s message.

As it turned out, the news Sam received was quite disturbing. Apparently reports were beginning to spread about some kind of a S’lorian attack on a world named Lotherian Prime, home to a species of mammalians just about to enter their spaceflight age of technological development. The only reason anyone besides the S’lorians knew about the Lotherians was because of their system’s extremely peculiar twin gas giants engaged in an odd orbital path that carried them around the system’s star together as they orbited around each other at the same time. Several governments, including the UEF, had set up a remote monitoring station on a moon in orbit of one the gas giants to observe the effects of the two massive gravitational bodies orbiting so closely to each other. The scientific consensus was that the two planets would eventually merge together, forming a super massive gas giant that might possibly result in the formation of a second star in the system. The research station was set up with the latest in covert and stealth technologies to ensure it did not interfere with the development of the Lotherian people, but that also meant the station was in prime position to watch a S’lorian taskforce assault the planet two weeks ago. The station had immediately dispatched messenger drones detailing the attack which were quickly spreading the news.

After taking a moment to consider his options, Sam told Wei to return to his desk and send a message to the S’lorian Foreign Minister, a loquacious dignitary named Honrey. Since Sam’s posting to Torten, he and Honrey had become good friends. Honrey possessed a very quick wit and had a gift for speaking a variety of alien languages. S’lorian physiology obviously prevented them from speaking every alien tongue in existence due to the vast array of various organs and other bodily instruments which allowed for communication amongst alien species, but as luck would have it Sam had no need for his universal translator when speaking with Honrey thanks to S’lorian lungs and tongues possessing several similar physical attributes found in human anatomy.

Since Sam’s appointment as the UEF’s ambassador to the S’lorians, Minister Honrey and Sam had developed a good working relationship. Together, they negotiated several bilateral free trade agreements between their two governments. Honrey also allowed Sam an unusual level of involvement with S’lorian diplomatic affairs totally unrelated to human interests. For instance, on several occasions Honrey had come to Sam’s office seeking advice about third-party treaties being proposed between the S’lorians and other nearby species like the Keldons. Since the S’lorians had only begun to emerge from their isolation a decade ago, they were in much need of advice and useful consultation when it came to matters of interstellar diplomacy. Thus, the emperor’s newly appointed foreign minister turned to Sam as his one, trusted alien ally to help the Empire establish its lines of communication with its neighbors. Sam was more than happy to help Honrey and they spent many an evening together in his office, burning the midnight oil as they talked about everything from matters of state to favored brands of alcohol from across the galaxy.

An hour later, Minister Honrey strolled through Sam’s door with his usual sunny smile on his face. It sometimes unnerved Sam how similar human and S’lorian faces were in appearance, besides the lack of S’lorian noses and their elongated heads and necks, but Honrey was a master diplomat with years of experience under his belt disarming and comforting aliens in tense situations.

Sam! Honrey called out as he approached Sam’s desk and extend his hand in the manner he had learned most humans use to express friendly greetings.

Please have a seat minister, Sam replied coldly, gesturing with his hand to one of the open seats in front of his desk. Sam knew he was slighting the S’lorian foreign minister by not shaking his hand, but Sam felt he had to set the tone for the meeting quickly before Honrey struck up one of his usual jovial small talk sessions.

I’m sorry my friend, but have I done something to offend you? Honrey asked as he settled his tall, two-and-a-half meter long frame into one of the offered chairs with a quizzical expression on his face.

Not you specifically, Sam replied as he too returned to his seat, but your government certainly has.

After appearing to take a moment to contemplate Sam’s response, Honrey’s crimson and gold eyes lit up as if in understanding and he calmly leaned back into his chair and folded his arms across his thin chest. Today Honrey was wearing the standard white robes of the S’lorian diplomatic corps that provided little in the way of warmth. Humans tended to prefer slightly cooler climates to those of the S’lorian home world, so Sam kept his office a few degrees colder than Honrey was likely comfortable with given the large amount of bare, grey skin showing under his white robes.

I’m assuming you are referencing the wide spread news of our temporary occupation of Lotherian Prime? Honrey said calmly. I’m sorry I couldn’t provide a proper briefing to you or the other major power ambassadors before the news broke, but we hadn’t expected word to spread quite so quickly.

Temporary occupation? Sam replied questioningly. Is that what you call wiping out a primitive world’s entire self-defense capabilities and then sending down troops to annex their world into your empire?

Who said anything about annexation? Honrey replied with surprise.

Or, at least, what appeared to be surprise. Sam was well aware of the masterful nature with which Honrey could control and project his emotions. Any good diplomat worth his own salt needed to master his own emotions before all else, something Sam himself was still working on with the help of Michelle, but Honrey had been the emperor’s foreign minister for over three decades which made him a very hard alien to read.

We have no intention of keeping our forces on the planet in the long term, the foreign minister continued.

If you didn’t want to take the planet for yourself, why did you send down troops in the first place? Sam asked with as much authority in his voice as he could muster.

Sam was still getting used to the large amount of power his position as a UEF ambassador afforded him and he had difficultly sometimes in pushing his considerable diplomatic weight around, especially when dealing with a friend like the S’lorian foreign minister.

Honrey slowly leaned forward in his chair, casting his red and gold eyes to either side briefly as if to suggest he wanted to make sure what he said next was not overheard by unseen others in the office.

Since we’ve developed such a good working relationship these last few months I’m going to let you in on something we won’t be announcing until later today as a part of our general announcement to the public regarding the events on Lotherian Prime, Honrey began, gesturing with one of his long grey arms to draw Sam closer. As you are most likely aware, the Church of Ascension has been growing in power and influence with my people for the last ten years, ever since our intervention in your war with the Denkar.

Sam nodded in understanding. The Church of Ascension was an ancient order within the S’lorian Empire that was enjoying a massive revival, partly thanks

Reviews for A Sleeping Giant

[ZombieAteBrain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome book! This series has so fsr been really good, and I am looking forward to the next one.