The Sea of Iden

By A. A. Smith

When an old informant makes contact with the Sentinels, Conrad R. Slade is brought back from obscurity and must risk his life just to meet with her.
Meanwhile, Avery Clark and Alondra Suarez are among many whose lives are turned upside down by one question:

Is Nullis Groon a delusional demagogue or a Messiah?

During a confrontation between the United Earth Alliance and the Jarufani Commonwealth, Groon hijacks an Earth Forces vessel and takes an already tense standoff to the breaking point.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A. A. Smith
• Release date: May 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311042484

A. A. Smith

A.A. Smith is a graduate of UBC and lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has worked in environmental consulting, financial services and is also a practitioner of yoga and martial arts.

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The Sea of Iden

(Book three of the Constellation series)

A. A. Smith

Smashwords Edition

Cover Art by Reena Rae

Editor: Ariel Slack

copyright 2016, A.A. Smith

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places and events are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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Chapter 1

The landing ship matched the comet’s speed precisely as it flew through its ice trail. So far the rescue mission was going as planned and the ship remained undetected.

Major Avery ‘Tiger’ Clark zipped down his flight suit and reached under his shirt to feel the scars on his right side. They were a permanent reminder of how fast things can go horribly wrong.

On the planet, the Special Operations team took cover in the jungle that surrounded the facility while they waited for Lieutenant Rhonda ‘Pathfinder’ Lee to reprogram the security system.

An analysis of the facility revealed a ventilation shaft that was just large enough for Lee to slip into. She crawled slowly down the shaft, the display in her visor highlighting the path she needed to take. As she approached the vent, she paused. Her display indicated that there was another security sensor up ahead.

There were two reasons why Lee had been chosen for this mission to Planet Grell. The first was her expertise with Jarufani computer systems; the second was her size. At four feet eleven inches tall, she was petite to say the least. She had also been a competitive gymnast before joining the Earth Forces and those skills served her well here.

She removed a pea sized device from one of the pockets in her tunic and activated it. The device took off like a bee homing in on a flower. It attached itself to the sensor and shut it down.

After making sure the coast was clear, she unfastened the grating and crawled out into the brightly lit corridor. Out of habit, Lee reached for the switch that activated her camouflage suit, but stopped herself. Not yet. The facility was equipped, inside and out, with camouflage detectors. There would be no turning invisible until she could reprogram the facility’s security grid.

Lee had two pistols on her, one of which was equipped with a suppressor. This was the one she pulled out before she crept down the hallway. She approached the door to the facility’s monitoring station, turning her head from side to side, checking for anyone who might be sneaking up on her. All clear.

The first thing Lee saw when the door slid open was a young Jarufani guard. Like all Jarufani, the scales on his greenish-gray skin were very tiny, making his skin remarkably smooth.

He turned, his slit pupils narrowing slightly as he focused on the doorway. During the split second it took him to realize that something was wrong, Lee shot him in the head.

She did a visual sweep of the room. Seeing no one else inside, she let out a sigh of relief and found a console.

Captain Sean Reynolds crouched in the jungle with the four members of his squad, waiting for Lee’s signal. Although the dense green canopy shielded them from the sun, they were still sweating profusely and their damp clothing clung to their skin.

Reynolds was taking another gulp of water from his canteen when he heard Lee’s voice on his earpiece. Eureka, she whispered.

Copy that, Reynolds answered, waving a hand to signal his squad. The four soldiers jogged toward the facility, activating the camouflage function of their suits as they ran. One by one, they faded from sight.

When Reynolds and his squad reappeared in the monitoring station, Lieutenant Lee looked up from the console. Video feed shows all five hostages are in a cell on the other side of the complex, she said.

Reynolds nodded. Good. We’ll take formation Delta, McGregor pacing, and proceed as planned.

Lee and the others activated their camouflage suits and disappeared again. Reynolds sighed as if switching the suit on was a chore. Although he felt the camouflage suit was one of the greatest innovations in covert ops, he found working with a squad of invisible soldiers cumbersome. Sure the enemy couldn’t see them, but they also couldn’t see each other.

The heads-up display in their visors contained a timer that allowed them to synchronize their steps to McGregor pacing, which was their second slowest. Formation Delta split the squad in two, with half of the members on opposite sides of the hallway.

There were two guards posted outside the cell. Lee took them out with two quick head shots from her suppressed pistol then went to work at the keypad on the wall.

Eureka, she said when the door slid open.

Lee stayed outside to keep a look out while Reynolds and the other four soldiers rushed into the cell. His jaw dropped. What the fuck?

What is it? Lee replied.

It’s empty!

What? For the first time, Lee peeked inside. The room was bare. She didn’t know what to make of it. She had checked the feed less than two minutes earlier and it showed that all five hostages were inside.

An alarm sounded and the facility’s camouflage detectors reactivated. Six shimmering metallic bodies were now visible and vulnerable to the Jarufani soldiers coming their way. Reynolds stated the obvious. It’s a trap!

The cell doors started to slide shut. Without thinking, Reynolds ripped off his helmet and wedged it into the doorway, jamming it open. Everyone out! Let’s go!

As the rest of her team squeezed through the narrow opening, Lieutenant Lee crouched and drew her second pistol.

I’ve got you covered! she shouted to no one in particular. Lee slowed her breathing, mentally preparing herself for the imminent Jarufani onslaught. Suppressing her fear wasn’t easy, but it helped to know the rest of her team was joining her.

Reynolds was pretty sure his communications were jammed but he sent a message anyway, I need my Heavies now! Location November-two-seven! Reynolds was the last to leave the cell as gunfire thundered in the hall.

A few kilometers away from the facility the river flowed slowly. Its deep murky waters could probably hide anything.

Two clusters of bubbles percolated in the water before two large metallic objects breached the surface. The Heavies combined the firepower and protection of an armored assault vehicle with the dexterity of a foot soldier. They were the best of both worlds. The big machines stood about eight meters tall, with machine guns embedded in each arm and a pulse cannon mounted on each shoulder. Built to function in any environment, even the vacuum of space, they were a force to be reckoned with.

The Heavies ran effortlessly through the brush, weaving their way through the trees and crushing any debris in their paths. The operator of Heavy One contacted the landing ship. Tiger, do you copy?

Go ahead, Heavy One, Clark responded.

Things just got ugly. We’ve lost contact with the team.

Roger that. On my way.

When the Heavies arrived at the facility, they were met with a barrage of enemy pulse cannon fire coming from the rooftop. The bright blue energy pulses barely missed the Heavies as they darted from side to side. The blasts sent dirt and rock fragments flying in all directions, leaving giant smoking craters in the ground.

The Heavies didn’t waste any time. They returned fire with their pulse cannons and fireballs burst out on the rooftop. In unison, the Heavies jumped and activated their thrusters, which carried them up. Once on the roof, they started running in the direction of the team’s last known coordinates, firing their machine guns at the Jarufani soldiers that were starting to emerge from the building.

Heavy Two arrived at its destination first. Using its infared sensors, it was able to detect the firefight inside. Reynolds and the team appeared to be pinned down. Heavy Two aimed its pulse cannon behind some of the Jarufani soldiers and fired. The blast blew a hole in the roof and sent the Jarufani guards nearby rushing for cover. Heavy One jumped into the hole, aimed its weapons and tried to contact the rest of the team.

Yo, Cap. Ready to go?

More than ready, Reynolds replied. He fired a short burst from his rifle then waved a hand, signaling his team to move out. One member of the team had been shot. Reynolds carried him toward Heavy One while Lee and the others followed.

The machine had already lowered a platform from its back with a railing for people to hang on to. Heavy One fired its machine guns down the hallway while the team climbed aboard.

Each Heavy could carry six passengers. If the hostages had been present, they would have needed both machines to get everyone out.

Is the landing ship on its way? Reynolds shouted.

Yes, sir, Heavy One replied as the machine leapt out of the hole. Both Heavies quickly jumped off the roof and used their thrusters to soften their landing. The machines started running while pulse cannon blasts exploded around them. Heavy Two turned around and raised its arms. It blasted away with its pulse cannon and guns, setting off a cluster of explosions in the building. The machine turned again and disappeared into the jungle.

Tiger, where the hell are you?! The urgency in Reynolds voice was not lost on Clark.

I’ve just gone atmospheric. Forty seconds away. Clark reminded himself that the nearest Jarufani space patrols were at least twenty minutes away. He would be able to evacuate the team and escape with time to spare.

Clark had been tracking the Heavies on his sensors but made visual contact as they reached a clearing and took defensive postures. As the landing ship approached the clearing, Clark reduced its speed. He was about to lower his landing gear and open the bay doors when he saw a cluster of blue flashes leaving the surface, headed straight for him.

Oh shit! he shouted as he broke hard to the left, the pulse cannon bursts barely missing him. He increased his speed and took the ship down to fly just above the treetops on a random, circuitous path. This made him harder to hit, but the pulse cannon fire wouldn’t let up.

There’s at least a dozen pulse cannon stations in the jungle! Too many to pick off! Try to get over that ridge in sector whiskey-seven. I should be able to reach you there!

Roger that, Reynolds answered. The intel briefing never said anything about pulse cannon stations littering the jungle around the facility, but after years in Special Operations, he was used to things going wrong at the worst possible moment and had always been able to adapt.

The soldiers on the platform braced themselves as the heavies bolted up the slope towards the ridge.

The Heavy operators glanced at their sensors. Right on cue, they saw six Jarufani armored vehicles closing in fast.

We’ve got hostiles approaching! Reynolds shouted. "They’ll be in firing range