Xetonian Trades: “The Augerite Hordes”

By J. Wayne Stillwell

The discovery in 2043, of what Earth thought was a small, flat, densely packed asteroid cloud, seemingly on a collision course with Earth, increased the political pressure on the Sagittarius Constellation Treaty Organization. Whether or not to build additional ships capable of supporting significant numbers of people dominated the inter-galactic senates agenda. Using the moth balled battle fleet for long term population sustainment in deep space was not practical. For centuries Earth had feared the impact of just one large asteroid. The possibility of multiple, hyper velocity asteroid impacts created a state of near panic. Additional ships would be needed to destroy or divert asteroids expected to impact Earth. There was also the frightening possibility that to preserve the human race, Earth might need to be partially evacuated.
Earth's leaders and her alien allies began planning for the defense of the planet against the coming onslaught. Earth would soon find out that the asteroid cloud approaching Earth was in fact an invasion force. Emperor Raygan and his Augerite Hordes were about to become Earths newest and worst nightmare.
"The Augerite Hordes" is a fast paced science fiction story about how intelligent life, human or alien, have the ability to reason and the need to love and be loved but can also be cruel and dream of conquering the universe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Apr 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481734851

J. Wayne Stillwell

J. Wayne Stillwell is a native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Richmond, Virginia. After serving thirty-four years as a naval officer, he completed a second career as vice president for an R&D company. He is currently an independent consultant and fiction writer. He received his BS in electrical engineering from Purdue University, master’s degree in physics from the Naval Post-Graduate School, and completed the executive development program at Carnegie Mellon University. He has published articles in navy journals and authored his first science fiction book, “Xetonian Trades,” in 2003. A second edition of the same book, “Xetonian Trades I, The Seeding”; “Xetonian Trades, The Augerite Hordes”; “Xetonian Trades III, The Reapers”; his first romance novel, “Ten Months,” and a short human interest story titled “Bus 22” were published in 2013. “Xetonian Trades IV, Infinity’s Gate” was published in 2014. This book is another story about how intelligent life in the Milky Way deals with love, war, and interplanetary intrigue. He and his spouse of forty-six years, Bernadette, have two sons, John and Matthew, and four grandchildren.

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© 2013 by J. Wayne Stillwell. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/25/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-3486-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-3484-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-3485-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013905573

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Dedication

Author’s Preface

Glossary of Terms

Xetonian Trades Chronology

Chapter One An Empire Made

Chapter Two Manifest Destiny

Chapter Three A Cosmic Day Mare

Chapter Four New Unitasia

Chapter Five Invasion

Chapter Six Pacification of Earth

Chapter Seven The Rendezvous

Chapter Eight Occupation

Chapter Nine Planning for a Cosmic D-Day

Chapter Ten Expanding the Empire

Chapter Eleven Revelation before Revolution

Chapter Twelve Battle of Centauri Pass

Chapter Thirteen The Battle for Earth

Chapter Fourteen The Warrior’s Return

Chapter Fifteen Renewal

Chapter Sixteen Accusations and Salutations

Chapter Seventeen GUNS versus BUTTER

Chapter Eighteen STEALTH PEACE

Chapter Nineteen Standoff

Chapter Twenty New Horizons

Epilogue

About the Author

Dedication

This book is dedicated to those who have helped me directly and indirectly in so many ways through life’s journey. Hopefully I have done so for others and have passed on some wisdom to my children and grandchildren.

Author’s Preface

The first book, ‘The Xetonian Trades’, was published in 2003 and began with the internal sun of the mega planet Unitasia about to super nova. British physicist Stephen Hawkins spontaneous universe was about to happen. The Big Bang was a few Unitasian solar keeper cycles away. Unitasian scientist, Hyzusius Detarius, had secretly built an escape vessel for his son Kanan. He named the vessel after his wife Progeny. He launched Progeny into infinity a few days prior to the Big Bang with Kanan and a young girl named Nanneen on board.

After 12 billion years, Kanan, Naneen, and their twin children, Bynor and Emy, were fully bionic, an unpleasant but inevitable consequence of spending so much time in bio-arrestation. With the visible universe finally stable, they searched for planets to seed with clones of themselves. Re establishing flesh and blood populations of Unitarians was priority one.

Kanan and Naneen found two planets with environments similar to Unitasia in the Sagittarius Constellation region of the Milky Way Galaxy; Venisha, the fourth planet in what would become known as the Xetonian solar system, and Earth. Thirty-five-thousand Earth years later the descendents of these clones were brought together by fate and technology with the highly intelligent Cantonians who evolved through natural evolution in the Portallian oceans of the outer Xetonian solar system.

The Cantonians, rebelling against generations of slavery under the paternalistic but harsh Xetonian Empire, planned to conquer Earth and claim it as their new homeland. The Xetonians hoped the people of Earth could provide biologically compatible blood products to restart their atrophied immune systems. On the verge of war, the Janor Hiltner family and Proclaimer Zenn from Xetonia; the Cantonian leader Prince Mango; and Amy Glover, a young Earth woman, conspired to save the day.

After overcoming mistrust, war and disease, Proclaimer Maxeum Zenn brokered a peace treaty, titled Xetonian Trade Number One, between Xetonia, Cantonia and Earth. They formed a security council apply named the Sagittarius Constellation Treaty Organization (SACTO). Proclaimer Zenn, the supreme Xetonian leader, won approval of a plan to convert a large asteroid into a Mobil Science Base (MSB-1) to explore the cosmos. Book one in this trilogy, Xetonian Trades, ends with the successful completion of MSB-1’s first mission.

‘The Augerite Hordes’ continues the Xetonian Trades saga and begins twenty year later after a period of relative prosperity. Janor Hiltner Junior, a galactic hero for saving his immune deficient people using DNA from his Earth bride Amy Glover, followed his father into politics. Their oldest daughter, Mangetta, named after Prince Mango, became Director of SACTO. Proclaimer Zenn married his lifelong love interest, Junette.

Prince Mango ascended to the Cantonian throne upon the death of his beloved mother in Earth year 2031. The SACTO Headquarters building was named in honor of the Earth family that risk their only daughter to save the Xetonian people and the Xetonian Proclaimer who delivered her to them. It is located in the Zenn Building, 32 Glover Avenue, Plummersville, West Virginia, USA, Earth, Sagittarius Arm, Milky Way, 32-19-221564. Galactic Gwave address: [e-mail].

One of the most fascinating reports from MSB-1 was the discovery of Kanan Detarius’ escape vessel, Progeny, in orbit around the planet S-4 in the Upsilon System. Kanan and his family had successfully colonized S-4 and named it New Unitasia. It reopened the debate over creation versus natural evolution. DNA analysis confirmed that the Detarius’ had seeded Earth and Venisha with their clones. If Kanan Detarius was not God, who or what was he? Where did the Detarius’ really come from? Were there additional intelligent life forms to be discovered? The existence of vastly dispersed humanoid populations so similar in appearance and genetic makeup created a crisis for theologians, scientists and political leaders. The debate was intense.

In the year 2042, the affordability of constructing additional mobile science bases from Ort Belt asteroids was SACTO’s number one budget issue. It was simply taking too long to survey the Sagittarius region of the Milky Way with one ship. The Progeny, mothballed in geo-stationary orbit around the planet S-4, could be converted, but the ship’s relatively small size would limit its capabilities. On the other hand, constructing additional MSB-1 class ships was considered unaffordable.

The discovery in 2043, of a small, flat, densely packed asteroid cloud, seemingly on a collision course with Earth, increased the political pressure on SACTO. Whether or not to build additional ships capable of supporting significant numbers of people dominated the inter-galactic senate’s agenda. Using SACTO’s battle fleet for long term population sustainment in deep space was not practical. For centuries Earth had feared the impact of just one large asteroid. The possibility of multiple, hyper velocity asteroid impacts created a state of near panic. Additional ships would be needed to destroy or divert asteroids expected to impact Earth. There was also the frightening possibility that to preserve the human race, Earth might need to be partially evacuated.

Earth’s leaders began planning for the defense of the planet against the coming onslaught. SACTO would soon find out that the asteroid cloud approaching earth was in fact an invasion force. Emperor Raygan and his Augerite Hordes were about to become Earth’s newest and worst nightmare.

As in previous books, the story you are about to read is fiction, the possibilities it suggests are not. Xetonian, Cantonian and Augerite dialog has been translated into North American English.

Glossary of Terms

Alpha Centauri - Star complex 4.27 light years from Earth. The two largest stars, Alpha Centauri A and B, were used as a navigational outer marker and debarkation point for transits between Earth and the Xetonian solar system.

Amy Glover - Harry and Nancy Glover’s daughter, the West Virginia woman who married the Xetonian, Janor Hiltner Jr., in 2023. Her DNA saved the Xetonian people from extinction.

Andrea - Asteroid #216, largest asteroid in the Xetonian solar system and a year around vacation retreat for Xetonians. Home of the Xetonian military and mining base Halomaine

Antelya - Home planet of the Unitasian Confederation, it had features similar to Unitasia but much smaller in size.

Augerites - Descendants of the pre Big Bang planet Unitasia who interbreed with the indigenous population of the Augerite solar system.

Auker Kaniba - Unitasian Confederation Leader who prevented a second Augerite war with SACTO. He was the political head of the largest contingent of escapees from the pre big bang mega planet Unitasia.

Bernadette Sundry - Plummersville, West Virginia waitress who became an effective spy for SACTO during the Augerite occupation of Earth but let herself become too close to the enemy.

Bi-polarium - A sophisticated alloy developed by Augerite scientists. When formed into a containment vessel and lined with negative magnetic poles, it can safely hold anti matter.

BP-3 - Primary Cantonian Fighter Bomber. Armed with laser cannons and six air-to-ground missiles equipped with sub munitions warheads. They are equipped with a plasma-jet engine for exo-atmospheric thrust and a high energy liquid chemical jet engine for endo-atmospheric flight.

Bynor and Emerald Detarius - Twin children of Kanan and Nanneen Detarius, who were born, raised and educated on the Big Bang escape vessel, Progeny.

Consumption periods - Four equally spaced mealtimes scheduled during the Xetonian day.

Danso Hiltner - Augerite Squad Leader who became romantically involved with Bernadette Sundry.

Decemers - Two and one-quarter Earth hours.

Emperor Raygan - Leader of the Augerites.

Geographically Stationary Orbit (GEO) - Circular orbit position above a planets equator in which the object moves in the same direction as the planets rotation. Its orbital period equals the planets rotation period (one day) and thus appears to be motionless to a ground observer. Earth’s GEO position is 22,236 miles above the surface.

GDF - Galactic Defense Force, Xetonian national Army and Air Force.

Graciana - Daughter of the Xetonian Supreme Being and believed to be the messiah. She was sacrificed by the Supreme Being so that the Xetonian people could be saved from their sins.

Gwave - Gravity wave based internet system used by SACTO members for deep space communications. Modulated gravity wave signals are generated using huge moving mass systems that can only be terrestrial based. Space craft therefore, carry only Gwave receivers. Two way communications is achieved by down linking to the nearest Gwave base station using giga hertz RF.

Hyzuses Detarius - He was the Unitasian version of a super Einstein, the designer and builder of Progeny and father of Kanan Detarius.

Interceptor class cruisers - Three hundred thousand ton Battle cruisers. Each cruiser carries nine squadrons of fighters.

JAG Officer - An attorney who is also a military officer. They report to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Judge Advocate General.

Janor Hiltnor Junior - Trained in medicine and is an amateur astronomer. He married the Earth woman Amy Glover in 2023.

Joint Strike Fighter - NATO fighter plane built in the U.S. and Europe.

Junette - Proclaimer Zenn’s life partner who he marries after the Cantonian/Xetonian war.

Kanan and Nanneen Detarius - Son and daughter-in-law of Hyzuses Detarius. They thought they were the only survivors of Unitasia until the Augerites appeared.

Klystron - Sixth planet in the Xetonian system. Most of the useable real estate is dedicated to above and below ground research and development facilities.

Low Planetary Orbit (LEO) - The orbit position around a planet just above the atmosphere and requires the least booster energy to achieve a semi-stable orbit. On Earth this is 1,200 miles above the surface. Most satellites are in LEO.

Lacucka - Prince Mango’s Cantonian love interest.

Manassan Tri-legs - Intelligent, friendly and extremely capable non humanoids used as domestic servants by the Unitarians and Augerites.

Master leader - Xetonian rank equivalent to a full bird colonel.

N-27 Predator - Primary Xetonian fighter craft armed with neutral particle beam cannons and low yield fusion bombs. Its military operational service life was extended in the 2030’s by upgrading the avionics and weapons control software.

New Unitasia - The planet S-4 in the Upsilon Andromeda solar system, it was colonized by Kanan and Naneen Detarius.

Octomer - eight Earth minutes

Portallus - The Cantonian home land, eighth planet from in the Xetonian solar system.

Prince Mango - Leader of the federated Cantonian tribes. Educated in the best Xetonian schools, he was groomed by the Xetonians to be an overseer of the once enslaved Cantonian colonies. His royal blood and intolerance of the Xetonian conquerors drove him to lead his people into rebellion in Earth year 1993. He and his people were freed as part of Xetonian Trade number one.

Proclaimer - Xetonian rank equivalent to flag rank in the U.S. military.

Progeny - Complex escape vessel designed and built by Hyzuses Detarius. Progeny departed Unitasia just prior to the big bang with his only son and girl friend aboard.

Proclaimer Mangetta Hiltner - SACTO supreme commander and Daughter of Janor Hiltner and Amy Glover.

Red Base-II - Unarmed international scientific colony on the planet Mars.

SACTO - Sagittarius Constellation Treaty Organization

Senior Watch Leader (SWL) - Xetonian Battle cruiser watch officer, equivalent to a U.S. Navy Officer of the Deck (OOD).

Strikers - Various sized small arms used by the Augerite military. Fires anti-matter modules and short range stun projectiles.

Tremain - It is the fifth planet in the Xetonian system, twice the size of Jupiter, with a ninety percent methane gas atmosphere, no life, and gravity so strong that visiting is impossible.

Turian - The formal title for an Augerite military officer. Officers hold rank at four levels. Turian-one is the most senior rank below the emperor.

Unitasia - One third of a light year in diameter, it was a singularity containing all of the matter in the cosmos arranged in a thick outer shell that surrounded a huge internal sun. Its super nova created the known universe.

Venisha - It is the fourth planet in the Xetonian solar system and homeland of the Xetonian people. The Venishian city of Meculla is believed to be the birth place of Graciana, daughter of the Xetonian Supreme Being, a messiah sent in ancient times to provide salvation to the then decadent Xetonian people.

Vent Hole - Various size vents in the Unitarian planetary shell. They relieve and balance the internal pressure created from the gas and other solar particles emanating from the planet’s internal sun. Vent holes also provide power and light for cities, farming and industrial activity.

Xetonia - Largest moon of the planet Tremain; named in honor of the first Xetonian Supreme Proclaimer by Venishian explorers during the time of Graciana. The explorers hoped that Xetonia could provide desperately needed habitat to relieve overcrowding on Venisha. Their hopes were soon dashed. The long, scorching, windswept summers and short, bitter-cold winters provided an impossible environment for normal civilian inhabitation, at least on a permanent basis. It is used by the military and civilian government.

Xetonian Trades Chronology

Chapter One

An Empire Made

Place: The Augerite Solar System

Earth date: January 16, 2043

Empires must grow or die

Emperor Raygan stood quietly under the large bulb tree dominating his private courtyard. It was the only place he could be alone and safe at the same time. As the leader of the Augerite Empire, he was hated by many, especially the indigenous tribes of the southern territories. He was by nature high strung and used the quiet solitude of his garden to relax before retiring to bed.

Raygan was an ambitious, intelligent man and afraid of nothing. But he was also an introvert who recharged his mental and emotional batteries each day by spending time alone. He hated social engagements and diner speeches, although he could go through the motions when required and with considerable skill. He disliked, even distrusted close relationships, a strange combination of traits for an emperor planning to conquer the known universe.

He sat his container of mild intoxicant on a small table next to his chair. The chair was old and worn looking but very sturdy in construction. It had been re cushioned several times, but never repainted or otherwise altered. His staff thought the chair was unfit for an emperor but knew they had no say in the matter. The chair was his grandfathers, and when Raygan sat in it, he felt in touch with a man he adored as a boy and whose unquestioned love he received in return.

His grandfather had worn the surface treatment off the front edge of the right arm by rubbing it constantly with his fingers. It was a nervous habit of some sort that substituted for the calming rhythm of a rocking chair. Raygan always placed his hand on the rub mark when he sat in the chair. It was his way of connecting to his grandfather’s spirit.

Raygan still had his working uniform on. He had taken a bath that morning, so he decided to eat supper at the officer’s consumption hall and forgo his normal evening change of clothes. He liked the loose fitting military working uniform. The long sleeves, integrated windbreaker, and insulated, shin high boots were very comfortable. Detachable sleeves and the layered windbreaker made the uniform adaptable as weather during the Augerite spring is unpredictable. It can change from cool to warm and back again within hours.

This particular evening was unusually calm for early spring, just the hint of a breeze and a clear sky. The air was cool but not uncomfortable. His working uniform was the perfect attire for enjoying the night air, having a drink and getting his thoughts in order.

Raygan faced his chair, paused for a moment, turned around and sat down gently, almost respectfully. He put his hand on his grandfather’s rub mark, closed his eyes and tried to meditate for a few moments. Unsuccessful, he reached for his drink and took several good swigs thinking that would help. He leaned his head back and stared at the sky. As a boy, he enjoyed gazing at the large, bright point of light to the south, approximately forty degrees above the horizon. It was not a star. It was the mother ship of a fleet of life rafts used by his Unitasian ancestors to escape from their mega planet prior to the Big Bang.

Twelve-billion years ago, a forty-five billion year-old singularity drifted in an otherwise empty cosmos. All the mass distributed in the present-day universe was contained in the singularity. Ragan’s ancestors called their pre-big-bang world Unitasia. Unlike the planets in the Augerite solar system, there were no stars to stare at while making a wish or to navigate by on dark nights. No moons to smile upon the harvest or create the rhythmic ebb and flow of ocean tides. One of the entries in the Unitasian colonist’s log books expressed this profound and telling observation about their old homeland.

The huge interconnected matrix of black vessels was now a memorial and museum, a junkyard of memories and the only remaining physical link to his fore fathers. Some believe others must have escaped, but the odds of multiple groups of Unitasian escapes finding each other in the vastness of the cosmos was considered zero.

Emperor, your sleeping module has been prepared. Raygan’s Tri-Leg called from the only portal leading to his courtyard.

Good. Call me again in about an octomer. Make sure the cover temperature is set at body plus 10 and the white noise at level three.

As you desire Raygan, the Tri-Leg responded, then quietly closed the entrance and left for Raygan’s bedroom to carry out his instructions.

I must get some rest tonight. Tomorrow will be a long day, he thought.

Raygan preferred a Manassan Tri-Leg trained in domestic service to an Augerite female maid. The Tri-legs, expensive pets brought from Unitasia by some of the wealthy space colony passengers, were intelligent, three legged creatures. Their appearance was generally humanoid from the waist up and they were obedient to a fault.

Raygan thought Augerite woman were high maintenance. He found them attractive to look at for sure and enjoyed sex, but they were just too difficult to live with on a regular basis. His Tri-leg was the perfect solution. Most of the time, he was not aware that she existed.

His attitude toward females was the result of negative experiences his illegitimate son had while attending the Augerite Military Academy and his mother’s early death, which he irrationally viewed as abandonment. He felt that her Keepeck cultural norms and false pride kept her from seeking help when she was ill thereby assuring her death and robbing Raygan of a woman he dearly loved and needed at the time. When she died he became angry and felt that his mother did not love him enough to take care of herself so she could take care of him.

With his Tri-leg maid gone and the portal closed, darkness and quiet returned to the garden. Raygan slipped his boots off and focused his attention on the space colony. The thick Augerite atmosphere made the colony appear to twinkle as if it was still alive and trying to send a signal to someone. A meteorite to his left caught his attention, refocusing his gaze on the thousands of stars lighting up the sky.

If others did escape, which star system would they have settled in? If others left from the opposite side of Unitasia, well, a 180 degree difference in departure azimuth would make a future encounter impossible. Even a 5 degree difference, considering the distances involved, would make it impossible. He dismissed the thought based on logic.

As he put his hands on the arms of the chair to stand up, he noticed a sewer snake lying in the corner of the garden. They were warm blooded reptiles and active at night. Long and slim with large eyes and a menacing hiss, appreciating them as an innocent creature of nature was difficult. Though not poisonous enough to be a threat to a grown man they carried diseases picked up in the sewer system.

I hate snakes, he said out loud.

He stood up and took aim with his striker, a personal weapon carried by all Augerite military personnel. The anti-matter globule hit the snake just aft of its head and within two seconds quietly consumed the snake’s body leaving no evidence it ever existed.

Strikers were one of the amazing new weapons the Augerite defense industry had developed. Anti-matter is dangerous, hard to collect in quantity and had to be safely contained until used. When anti-matter and matter meet, they neutralize each other leaving only a small amount of residual pure energy. The problem with anti-matter had been finding a way to safely contain it, until a very clever scientist figured out a way to separate north and south magnetic poles using massive electro-magnetic cyclotrons and then keeping them separated with a sophisticated alloy cleverly named Bi-polarium. The alloy made a perfect anti-matter containment bottle when lined with negative magnetic poles.

Only small, personal anti-matter weapons, like the Striker, were built because amassing large quantities of anti-matter was still fearfully dangerous. An anti-matter globule the size of a grain of sand would take approximately 4 seconds to consume the biomass of a two hundred pound man. The striker also had a short range, high voltage stun capability similar to the Tazers used on Earth.

Satisfied about eliminating the snake and feeling the effects of the intoxicant, Raygan retired to his sleeping room. He set the white noise generator to activate in 3 octomers, shed his uniform, climbed into bed and put on the holographic entertainment goggles hanging above his head. The entertainment goggles helped him become sleepy in a most enjoyable way. Every conceivable form of entertainment was available, everything from music and mathematics to history and military tactics.

Raygan was obsessed with Unitasian history, especially early military history. He had the historical logs from the Unitasian space colony made into a series of documentaries. One of his favorites was the late history of Unitasia. It was a time of continuous war between hundreds of tribes. The wars were finally ended by the greatest military leader in Unitasian history, ‘Exellar the Consolidator’.

Raygan idolized Exellar for his military genus and natural gift for politics. He was the type of leader Raygan desired to be. His ability to extract long term obedience from the people he conquered, even people on the other side of Unitasia that he never visited, was what impressed Raygan the most.

He selected ‘Settlement of the Initial Unitasian Base Camp in the Augerite System, part I’, a documentary program based on Unitasian escape vessel logs, and the camps military and civilian historical records.

A soothing female voice began the narration. The Unitasian survivors discovered the Augerite system in the year 12,342,168,026 AB. AB, or After Bang, was a temporal designation created by the escaping Unitarians to reset their time reference.

"They had previously surveyed thousands of planets with various forms of life. All of them either had unacceptable atmospheric conditions, dangerous evolutionary life forms, inadequate natural resources or all three. After a thorough survey of the Augerite solar system, the data clearly indicated the fourth planet from the sun was the best place to establish their new home land. It had abundant potable water and atmospheric conditions that closely matched Unitasia. The existence of a diverse population of wild life and intelligent pre industrial age evolutionary humanoids, made the decision to stay easy.

There was one aspect of the Augerite solar system that would always make the Unitasian colonists feel alien. Unitasia had an internal sun that pumped powerful photon streams into the atmosphere through huge vent holes. This created regions of permanent light and darkness. The external sun of this new solar system, well, that would take some getting used to. Light and dark periods came and went as their new planet slowly rotated around its axis. Dark areas on Unitasia were permanent and normally avoided and considered dangerous. It took many years for the Unitasian settlers to become accustomed to a cycle of days and nights. At sunset, maximum security was set with Unitarians restricted to their compounds until the sun rose again.

They named the planet Exellar after the great Unitasian leader who consolidated the Unitasian vent hole cities into a peaceful confederation in solar keeper year 50,475 Pre Bang."

Raygan hit pause. He loved the soft sexual tone of the narrator’s voice. Out of curiosity and with not so honorable intensions, he had his aide summon her to his quarters over a year ago to see if her body matched her voice. She was gorgeous, but very young and the daughter of one of his most important political allies in the Augerite Senate. He was tempted and she appeared to be willing, but the risk was just too great.

If I don’t get my mind off her, I’ll never get to sleep, he thought. He pressed play and the narration continued.

"The geographic center of a vast prairie on the third largest continent was chosen as the initial base camp. It contained a large inland plain shaped like an ellipse with a total land area of six hundred and fifty thousand square miles. The rest of the continent consisted of broad patches of prairie periodically interrupted by mountains and small forests. A large river with many tributaries meandered through the center of the continent.

Selection of the base camp site was a tradeoff between the convenience of being close to the mountains, where