Runt

By Frank Carey

Everyone wants to be king, everyone that is except for Trevor. He just wants to get as far away from his people as possible, yet the universe seems bent on thwarting his plans at every step.

 

Runt is the second installment in the story of the Old League Universe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frank Carey
• Release date: May 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393767503

Frank Carey

Frank Carey has been formally writing and publishing works of science fiction since late 2013. Over the years prior, he had dabbled in various forms of writing including haiku poetry, but that all changed when he and his wife, Jo, decided to try their hand at writing and self-publishing. Since then, he has written and published a collection of flash fiction and short stories, two anthologies, a pentalogy, and a trilogy. All his work, to date, has been in the science fiction genre. Most of his stories take place about two centuries in the future when Earth joins the League of Planetary Systems. Many of his protagonists are strong females. He is an inveterate pantser who believes the story will go where the story wants to go. Frank’s background includes degrees in physics and extensive work as a scientific programmer and technologist.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

The Palace of the May was a large building that was built generations ago with stone, wood, steel, and magic. It resembled the castles found on countless worlds except for its size. It covered several square miles and was surrounded by a modern city of millions of May who went about their business with little concern for the happenings inside the palace. If the water flowed in, the sewage flowed out, the lights came on, and the roads were passable, the May were happy. Six months ago, a failure of a tradition which stretched back hundreds of centuries led to the destruction of a civilization and the embarrassment of both the participants and the those in charge. It would not happen again. After much wrangling, politicking, and negotiation, a course of action was agreed upon which would save face for the May and find them the leader they desperately needed while granting the survivors of the disaster some closure.

The May Empire joined the League of Planetary Systems, The Earth Alliance, and the Confederation of Worlds to create a coalition of worlds spanning four universes. The first order of business was to find the May a new leader while avoiding the execution of 400 candidates who had gone astray 15,000 years in the past. Things had not gone well back then, and their actions seemingly added to the problems which ended the Old League of Planetary Systems, but that was another story for another time. Today, a year after their return to the May continuum, the candidates were to learn their fates.

For the last year, dozens of candidates were sent out to the four universes as an experiment to see if it were possible to reset the clock and restart the training exercise which would end with a leader of the May being chosen. The experiment had been successful, so one by one, the candidates were either reunited with their original mentors, or assigned new ones.

A large figure stood out on the balcony watching the sunset as his fate was decided by others. Inside, spell slingers from three universes were matching up members of a failed field trip with mentors who, hopefully, would get the young royals back on track. Those who failed this final lesson faced a mandatory death sentence laid down millions of years ago by the very civilization which gave them life.

Beautiful night.

The figure looked down and saw a human woman looking at him. Not Tralaskan, but human, the race that called Earth home.

Yes, incredibly beautiful. Luna still looks the same even after 150 centuries.

Naught but a drop in the bucket for the old girl. She held out her hand. Doctor Remi Vespa, Earth Alliance Rescue Leader.

Hesitantly, he took it in his hand and gently shook it. Trevor, Destroyer of Worlds.

She smirked. Trevor, they told me you had a unique sense of humor.

I'm not being humorous. Your people survived the apocalypse my people caused. Seven trillion people driven mad by a code update we created. I find no humor in that.

Trust me, you'll get over it.

He gave a small smile. Yes, I will when the royal ax separates my head from my neck.

Not if I can help it.

Who are you?

Your mentor. You are part of my team as of three minutes ago.

Why?

Because we have a mutual need for one another. You need someone to show you how to interact with other races, and I need someone with your skill set. For a universe we thought devoid of sapient life forms, we've been encountering an inordinate number of them as we move out from Earth.

We killed all the sapient members of the League of Planetary Systems.

Ever hear of Malthusian or Malturan Wombats?

Ah, wombats. Bus-sized carnivores which don't become sapient until adulthood. Six-limbs, each terminating in a hand with six venom-exuding, claw-tipped fingers. Their mouths have more teeth than a megalodon with tempers to match. That's right, they found the use of crystals to sling spells abhorrent. I forgot about them.

We met a few of those young ones before an adult found us and scattered the kids. See? We need what's in your head. We're visiting planets that don't show up in the fragments of a database we found on Tralaska. Ever been to Tralaska?

I visited every planet in the Old League Including Tralaska. Kristin would point and I would go. He sighed. I was her information gatherer. I observed the effects of her plan on the populace, then reported back to her.

And?

In retrospect, I should have stopped her. I got caught up in the thought of returning to my universe to wreak havoc on those who had imprisoned us.

She put her hand on his shoulder. Kiddo, we'll work on this together. She took him by the arm and led him back to the building. Every journey begins with a single step.

###

The Earth Alliance Rescue Craft Gnarly Dude was a state-of-the-art, FTL space vessel with a crew of seven and berths for twice that many. It was equipped with two medical beds and an operating theater that would make many hospital directors drool with envy. The crew were trained as EMTs and space rescue technicians who could respond to any disaster either in space or planet side. They were currently docked at EA-6, the Earth Alliance space station in orbit around Ventos Prime.

The captain assembled everyone in the lounge. All right everyone, listen up! I'm expecting a call any minute, so I'll keep this short. The strapping young new guy is Trevor. He's familiar with this part of space, so he'll be acting as our guide. Trevor, my name is Captain John Tate, and the tense looking woman on my right is our first officer, Talia Tate. Leaning against the wall is our engineer, Zelda Turner. On my left is Rescue technician Rick Mars and Rescue Technician Kat Moscow. And you know Doctor Vespa. We'll brief you more once we're en route.

Where are we going? Trevor asked.

A freighter on approach to this station has declared a medical emergency, Doctor Vespa replied. We're being sent out to check it out before it gets to the station.

It had delivered supplies to an archaeological team working a site on the ninth planet.

The ninth planet... Trev said. Spunky, the storehouse of the Ventosian system.

What the hell are you talking about? Kat asked.

Nine planets in the Ventos system. We're orbiting number four. The Ventosian elves, like other sapients, named the planets of their systems. The ninth was known as Spunky. It was used as a vast storehouse by the inhabitants of Ventos Prime. It was also home to several deep space observatories and military testing ranges.

How can you possibly know that? Rick asked.

Trevor turned to Remi. You didn't tell them?

I haven't had time...

He turned to face the others. 15,000 years ago, my companion lived on the planet below. Her job took her to several outposts in this system including Spunky. She sold office supplies.

You're...

I was a sapient crystal person, Trevor said. My people are the May, and I apologize for the mistakes we made in the past.

Zelda bolted out of her seat. You killed trillions! Captain! I refuse to be a part of..."

Can that shit, Zelda, the captain barked. Why don't you go and read the damned report that's been sitting in your terminal for the last week before you say something, we both regret?

She turned and stormed out of the room.

Anyone else with an undeniable urge to be transferred off this ship? the captain asked. Understand this: I read the report, and I approved of this assignment. You have a problem with Trevor, then you have a problem with me. Understood?

Yes, sir! the others said as one.

Very good. Now, Trevor, to your knowledge, was it customary to store hazardous materials of a chemical, biological, or radiological nature on Spunky?

It was strictly forbidden, but there were occasional reports of things being found that didn't belong there. Most of the dangerous items were either coming from or going to the Cube. All storage units were protected by containment spells, but I don't know what effect the coding error had on those precautions.

The Cube, you mean that derelict structure orbiting a dead star? That thing died 15,000 years ago along with every person aboard, Talia noted.

Trevor looked at her. Even when I was non-corporeal and living in an organic crystal, there were places in that station that I wouldn't let my companion go near, out of fear we'd both die. There is a place there called the Tombs where legend has it, they stored a doorway to hell.

That was just a legend...wasn't it?

I never tested it for veracity.

Good to know...

Captain, incoming message, the computer announced.

Computer, pipe it through here.

"John, this is Jeb. Dispatch has issued a go for intercept of the freighter EAMV Barbara Anne. According to their last transmission, one crewperson had to be restrained. That was four hours ago. There have been no communications since, so proceed with caution."

Aye, sir. Any backup?

We have a cruiser inbound. Let's hope you won't need her kind of help. Out.

Departure stations, everyone. Trevor, you're with Remi and her team. We leave in five.

###

The Dude came to a relative stop five kilometers from the Anne. A probe was sent out to reconnoiter the situation and establish communications with the crew. When it arrived at the freighter, it found the ship adrift, its engines cold. All attempts at establishing communication were no joy.

What now? Trevor asked while he and the rest of the rescue team stood in the Ready Room. From here they could access airlocks on either side of the ship as well as the medical beds and the operating theater.

We send in bots. The probe is designed to dock with a ship's hull, cut a hole into it, then send in bots to reconnoiter the interior.

I could just portal over, Trevor said.

Remi smiled. I doubt any of them have seen a May yet. Has anyone told you that, though handsome, the tusks give you an air of danger?

You mean I can be intimidating.

Just a little. All of us are Witch-2 or higher, so we could portal over. We'll just let the bots do the legwork for now. Um, can I ask you something about the past?

Of course.

Did the League have AIs?

No. Neither did they have non-corporeal species who could enter computer systems.

An image came up in the Ready Room's main monitor. It showed the probe attached to the Anne. Five more images appeared.

Those are from the bots. They're preprogrammed to hit the ground running once they're inside the hull.

Overlays of sensor data appeared with the image from each probe. Soon, they were watching corridors and gangways pass by as the probes traveled through the ship.

Bot-3 has picked up life signs, Rick said.

Trevor looked at the display and saw the readings. "How many crewmembers does the Anne have?"

Twenty according to the manifest, Kat replied.

Bot-3 entered a room where twenty or so humans were present. As the crew of the Dude watched, the Anne's crew slowly turned to face the probe.

Oh my God, Remi whispered.

All twenty of the people standing in front of the probe had flaming red crystals in their chest and red flames coming from their eyes.

Are those...? Rick asked.

They're corrupted organic crystals.

I thought only the old synthetics were corrupted during the disaster 15,000 years ago, Kat said. "The Colony Ship Nova had only natural crystal slingers on board and none of them mutated."

No, organics can also be corrupted from prolonged close proximity to one of more corrupted synthetics, Trevor explained. "The passengers and crew of the Nova were protected from the effects by the efforts of Sigmund Alderthal and several wizards present at the launch site."

Those poor souls, Cat said. Are we going to just sit here? We could try to help them.

Trevor said nothing as he stared at the screens, especially the data streams from the bot's sensor systems.

This is the captain. We have been ordered to leave the area... Wait a minute. Something large just arrived. My God, what is that...

Rick grabbed the screen's remote and shifted it to an external camera. A ship had come to a stop next to them, and it was unlike anything they had seen before. According to the readouts at the bottom of the screen, it was 1,500 meters long and 1,000 meters wide with two structures mounted dorsally and ventrally. They watched as a missile emplacement rose from the center of the dorsal surface.

"New League of Planetary Systems Super Cruiser 2 Crenshaw's Dream. Trevor explained. The four structures are rail guns and the missiles are bark borers, which are overkill unless they're planning on taking out a moon."

What the hell do they think they're doing.

"They're targeting the Anne, Trevor said. We should leave."

Why?

Those missiles are powerful enough to affect the local fabric of space.

Crew, stand by, Talia said over the intercom. The captain is having words with our visitor.

Damn... Trevor said as he saw something on the screen. Computer! Display full sensor data stream, this terminal, no filters. Remove all graphics and video feeds.

Working...

The screen filled with a sea of numbers which changed at a rate that none of the others could follow.

Computer, enhance display. Full visible spectrum! Stack the data.

The display changed to a 3D grid of color running the gambit from deep violet to deep red.

Hold!

The numbers stopped shifting.

Why didn't I see this before...?

See what? Kat demanded.

"A possible mitigation of the mutating properties of the defective code. Doctor Vespa have the captain of the Dream hold off firing for five minutes. If I'm not back by the time she loses her patience, make sure that Kristin and Algernon get a copy of this data, especially this screen."

What the hell...? She found herself talking to empty space.

###

Trevor stepped out of the portal next to Bot-3, then stood there and watched the twenty mutated spell slingers as they