Five Moons: Convolute

By Bill Parker

“We come in peace” is what we told the anoza when human explorers first encountered them, but you would have to ask the anoza how that worked out for them. They would tell you fast and quick that humans were cast into the outer darkness because of the evil in our hearts. It didn’t take them long to figure that out when we left the blood of four innocents on their hands. In fact, we convinced them of it by trying to hide the evil that was done. Union Fleet flew an unmarked ship into space docks after the Corporate War, intending to secretly scrap it out, intending to get rid of the evidence.
By the end of the Corporate War, Dallas Blake had lost everything. He went to those same Union Fleet space docks intending to start his life over, intending to buy a war surplus scout-class ship. Instead, he unknowingly buys the Tesseract. That is where this whole saga began. It began with the guns-blazing rescue of Emma from the mercenaries and a timequake starship with more enigmas than answers.
The Five Moons saga continues with Five Moons: Convolute dropping you right into the middle of the action as the Syndicate’s last mobsters hunt down a Special Forces agent in the streets of Habston, the biggest little city on Panara-5. It quickly becomes a running gun battle as Dallas Blake and the crew of the Five Moons tries to save him.
After Emma and Sophie unwind one of the alien mysteries of the ship, the Five Moons is enlisted by Special Forces to transport their agents to Daggan-7. But the alien technology of this ship is not about to give Dallas any breaks. In the worst of places, at the worst of times, he suddenly finds himself embroiled in yet another alien enigma with only a cryptic error message to give him a clue.
Even so, the gut-wrenching twists and turns of fate don’t quit for Dallas Blake and the crew of the Five Moons. Trying to escape from one villain, Dallas and crew fall right into the hands of yet another — Sarsen Tabbot, the Mercenary Commander responsible for the death of Dallas’ whole family.
Intertwined in this whole mess is a real spy-vs-spy story pitting Special Forces against an old nemesis, with Dallas and the crew of the Five Moons caught in the middle.
If you love to hate a good villain, Five Moons: Convolute will give you a couple of real doozies to get your blood boiling. This story is as convoluted as it gets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bill Parker
• Release date: Jul 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005020637

Bill Parker

Native Western New York author, and world traveler, Bill Parker, spent most of his career engineering high-tech manufacturing systems for companies around the world. An accomplished deep space astrophotographer, he was a contributing editor for Modern Astronomy magazine when it was based in Attica, New York, working mainly on astrophotography articles and projects.Bill Parker has been a Black Belt in Isshin Ryu Karate and a martial artist for more than forty years. The times when all that stood between him and certain death was his martial arts gave Bill the indomitable spirit that pervades his thinking and writing to this day.Bill calls Earth his homeworld but he is an outworlder to the very core of him.Bill is the author of the highly acclaimed Five Moons Series of science fiction novels and, if you are up for a real walk on the mystical side of science fiction, then you just have to read his Tales of the Green Jinn.

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Five Moons:

Convolute

A Science Fiction Novel

By Bill Parker

Copyright © 2016, 2020, 2021 William P. Parker All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Published in the United States by:

Five Moons Publications

155 Carol Lane

Elma, NY 14059-9749

www.fivemoons.org

[e-mail]

Disclaimer:  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and as such are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, organizations, events, or locales is entirely coincidental, except for Elm Cove. It really did exist in this time stream. All of the stories, characters, places, events, and things presented in this novel are the intellectual property of William P. Parker.

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Prologue

We come in peace is what we told the Anoza when human explorers first encountered them, but you would have to ask the Anoza how that worked out for them. Oh, it all started out with good intentions, alright. The Anoza shared their advanced timequake starship technology with us, and a starship was even built from it, the Tesseract. But alas, the humans trailed evil behind them in their jump wakes like a foul stench, so the road to hell was surely paved with all of those good intentions. The gift that had been given ended up in the hands of the unworthy. Union Fleet flew an unmarked ship into space docks after the Corporate War, intending to secretly scrap it out, intending to get rid of the evidence of the evil that was done.

By the end of the Corporate War, Dallas Blake had lost everything: his wife, his daughter, his whole family. His homeworld had been obliterated by the Merc forces of Sarsen Tabbot. Dallas was a man in need of far more than just a new beginning. What Dallas needed was a resurrection. Dallas went to those same Union Fleet space docks with his own good intentions. He intended to start his life over. He intended to buy a war surplus scout-class ship.

Instead, he unknowingly bought the Tesseract. That is where this whole story began. It all began with a starship like no other, a starship with more enigmas than answers. It all began with artificials that seemed way too human. It all began with the guns-blazing rescue of Emma from the mercenaries. It all began with a single leaf in the wind.

~~~

I stand at the center of the Five Moons’ shadow, and I say, yes! By all means! Ask us what we think of humans! By the evil in their hearts did I find the blood of four innocents on my hands! Clay of Earth, know this to the very core of you: yours were the people cast into the outer darkness because of the evil in their hearts.

A gift was made to them of Tesseract, but they were found unworthy.

Leaf in the Wind, you were unexpected but exactly what we needed. At the very gates of hell, only by my own intercession did the one who was dead in his heart but still walking save the Tesseract from destruction. His resurrection was only the first step. He justified my choice of him by fulfilling the purpose for which the gift of Tesseract was made. In this, I do rejoice.

To the one who flies the now convoluted Tesseract, I say, Leaf in the Wind, I sent you to save five souls. Instead, seven have you brought back from the edge. In this, I do rejoice, but our work has just begun. We have far yet to go, you and me.

Leaf in the Wind, the gift that was once made to the unworthy is now in your hands. To take the next step, you must see what is right before your own eyes.

Chapter One

Crossfire

Like a hunted animal, Bob Langart skulked from cover to cover through Habston, trying desperately to make it to the Pig and Whistle. Ahead of him, he saw two men. Those hunting him were in twos. He turned down yet another alleyway, not knowing, not caring where it led. By now, he was all turned around anyway, so any direction would do.

Why are they hunting me? Why me? But they are. I am just tech support. I am not a field agent, he protested to himself, as if that would do him any good. More footfalls in the distance behind him pushed him ever faster forward but to where? Remember your training, he kept reminding himself, but that was years ago. Change directions. Look for a place to hole up. Onward he pressed, but he was not in good shape. The sweat running into his eyes burned.

~~~

Two small five-sided stars, one red and one blue, tattoos on the hand, marked the men Nikola sent to do his bidding. Each man had knowingly signed his soul over to this devil who walked in human flesh. For the riches, for the drugs, each man had his own excuse and dared not question any other. Some needed no excuse. They were as evil as Nikola himself.

All they knew is that the arrogant Special Forces agent tried to kill him, tried to kill Nikola himself, would you believe, and failed. Nikola found that one. How this mark was involved, no one knew or even cared. They only knew that Nikola was so intent on the death of this one that they had followed him to Panara-5 to finish what they were sent to do.

Where the mark was headed, they hadn’t a clue, but it was somewhere here in Habston. Harry set the snipers up in a pattern. Eventually, the mark would break cover. When he did, finish this ugly business they would.

~~~

Bob was on the move when he got his first break, a tablet left carelessly on a windowsill. He almost did what he knew he must not, but he caught himself at the last second. These people nailed Wayne so quickly, but Wayne was the best there was. Why was that? How did they do that? Wayne trusted something that he shouldn’t have. Wayne was a brilliant field agent, but he was definitely not a techie at all. Before all of this, Bob so wanted to be like Wayne, a field agent. What a great honor it was to be selected as Wayne’s field tech support, but neither of them saw this coming. How did this outworld gang of thugs track down and kill a highly skilled Special Forces field agent? How did they do that?

Settings, Bob worked on. Make it not report its location. Now turn back on the GPS and let it guide the way. No messages, no wi-fi, none of that was needed right now. Just navigate for me, he told it. That would be as good as it gets for now. Okay, let’s see. The Pig and Whistle was just six blocks away, but six blocks to run this gauntlet of gangsters in broad daylight may as well have been six kilometers.

Clothes hung out to dry! What a find! A light blue work shirt… too big… but it did fit over his. He rolled up the sleeves. What he wouldn’t give right now for a hat. Think. Look around. This alley was a treasure trove of carelessly discarded stuff. Pick up a few tools left lying about, and you look just like any other workman. There were workmen everywhere in the streets. He was set.

Out into the moving groups of people, Bob ventured, now looking like he knew exactly where he was going. Match the pace of those around you, he remembered from his training. The tablet in his pocket told him, Turn left onto Merriam Street. And so he did. Walking briskly now, he followed a group of men all headed to work themselves, but this only got him three blocks closer, as the group of men was headed another way.

Turn Right onto High Street. The Pig and Whistle is 87 meters ahead on your right, the tablet told him. The sweat running into his eyes burned again. He wiped them with his sleeve while he kept on moving along with the other people going the same way.

~~~

Unit-three, High Street, the voice reported to Mick. Possible mark.

What do you mean by ‘possible’? Mick questioned the report.

Right size, right build, but I can’t see his face. Possible mark is walking away from me, Unit-three came back. They sent Mick the video. He squinted hard at it for several long seconds, looking at every little detail before he noticed the standard Union Fleet issue boots.

Unit-three, you are go for the hit. I repeat -- the hit is go.

The sniper set the mark’s head in the reticle while his spotter got range into the sniper rifle’s computer. The computer ran its deadly calculations all the way down to a slight adjustment for Coriolis Effect and lit its green ‘go’ dot in the virtual scope display. But the mark was on the move now and not an easy target at over four hundred meters. The sniper rifle’s miniature servos tracked the mark erratically as he moved amongst other people on the crowded street. The green ‘go’ dot lit and went out, came back on for a second, and blinked back off again. The tracking reticle jumped erratically from the mark to other nearby people and back again. It was just aggravating. Unable to track him on auto, the sniper had to re-aim the pulse-rifle manually.

~~~

Bob was almost there! He strode right up to the door to the Pig and Whistle. He grabbed the handle and pulled… just as the pulse round pierced his shoulder and shattered a hole in the door beyond. Stunned and in shock, he staggered forward to fall face down onto the table where Dallas and Kip had been quietly eating their lunch and sipping a Habston Lager.

~~~

Splash! the sniper reported. The target is down! The target is down!

Can you see the body on the ground? Mick demanded.

No! Damn! The damned mark fell into the damned building! Huge blood spot on the wall. The mark is down, and you can take that to the bank, the sniper responded, damned certain that he had done the evil deed. He quickly began to repack his gun into its case.

Team-seven! Team-seven! I want a visual! Get me a visual! Mick demanded, knowing only too well the wrath of Nikola for screw-ups. You didn’t get the mark if you don’t have the proof. He had to hand Nikola a video of the dead mark.

~~~

Special… Forces …, the man lying face down on the table barely mumbled before he passed out right on top of Dallas’ sandwich.

[Mariah, incoming wounded! Have Luke and Sam set up a secure perimeter! Shields up! Red Alert!] Dallas told her quickly as Kip field dressed the wound with napkins.

Seconds later, two men burst into the front door, guns drawn. That was all that Hack needed to see. The rail-gun pistol tucked neatly into his right leg structure was out in a flash. As the men raised their weapons to fire, Hack dropped them both where they stood.

That was enough to force Dallas and Kip to move the man as quickly as they could to the flatbed, parked in the alley behind the Pig and Whistle, the owner ushering them out quickly, glad that this battle was moving out of his establishment… or so he thought. He wasn’t back inside for ten seconds when two more men with weapons drawn burst into his front door.

You just missed them! he told the men. They just ran out the family entrance! He pointed them at the family entrance on the opposite side of the building from the alley. They ran out in hot pursuit of that lie.

~

Dallas put the man between boxes and bags on the back of the flatbed. Hack covered it all with a tarp and climbed in next to Dallas. Dallas calmly drove the flatbed out of the alley. He meandered down the road past groups of men, all running frantically around as if they just lost something. Kip circled around the other way, taking a different route. Dallas did really well to

get all the way to the edge of town. The man under the tarp was stirring, but they appeared to be alone as Kip pulled in behind him. At that point, Dallas began pushing the flatbed down that road as fast as the flatbed could go.

Then the red-alert warning went off. The flatbed’s shields deployed automatically… just ahead of a sniper round pulse impact. They had to make it back to the ship. The race was on. Kip pushed flares to confuse the auto-lock on the snipers’ rifles, forcing them to aim and fire manually. That got them farther down the road, but behind in the distance, three speeders were advancing on them. The fire became intense, with multiple rounds landing on both the flatbed’s rear shields and the assault bike’s rear shields.

A welcome sight, Kip’s fighter came straight at them just barely overhead, Rachel at the helm, firing on all targets. She made short order of those speeders and began laying heavy fire down on the snipers as Dallas and Kip banked hard around the bend. Luke and Sam had held their ground, as well they should. It had been Mariah that sent Rachel out to even the playing field. Mariah sat at Dallas’ tactical display, feeding Rachel targets until the firing ceased. She heard the flatbed roll hard and fast up the gangway and come to an abrupt stop.

It was a mad scramble from there for Dallas and Kip to get the man into Medlab. For just a brief time, the man was wide-awake and realized where he was. Nikola’s men won’t quit ‘till I’m dead, he warned Dallas and Kip just before Medlab put his lights out to work on him.

Actually, they have, Kip reported to Dallas. Rachel says that the few that are left are scrambling elbows and assholes for their ship, to get away.

We don’t have a choice, Dallas told him. Tell her to destroy the ship. If they get back to that underworld scum, they will tell him right where to find us. We can’t let that happen.

A few minutes later, Kip reported, Rachel says it’s done. The ship is down.

Luke and Sam, Dallas called them. Talk to Rachel. Recon the gangster’s ship for survivors. Do a thorough sweep. Get all the intel you can out of it that you can. You know the drill. Call Mom for help if you need to ID anything.

Right, Cap, Luke acknowledged. Dallas watched them lift on assault bikes and fly off into the distance.

Geez, Dallas said to Kip in the ensuing calm. I was waiting for a job to drop into our laps but not like this. Hell, the man ruined my sandwich. They both laughed.

You guys have been in some real beauty bar fights, Mariah complained, her hands on her hips, but this one really takes the cake. Did you have to pick a fight with a whole damned battalion?

That prompted Kip to recount the whole running battle while Dallas scratched his head.

The guy said something about Special Forces, just before he keeled over right on top of my damned Reuben, Dallas complained. I only had a couple bites before he wrecked it.

Good Lord! All you think about is food! Maybe I should have Jane make us Reubens for dinner then tonight, Mariah told him in utter disbelief.

Nah, that’s okay. The moment passed, He said with a big smirk. She hit him.

Ow! Hey! What ever happened to my rule about not hitting the captain?

It went the same way as my ass rules, I guess, she said with a smirk.

You still hit like a girl.

I am a girl!

Oh, yeah, he agreed with an evil leer.

Pow! Zoom! she threatened him with a clenched fist.

Not hit him! Sophie protested as she and Emma came to see what all the commotion was about. He’s my Ka. She came to Dallas’ defense.

Like I said, Mariah reminded him. Somebody is a raging daddy’s girl.

Works for me, Dallas said smugly. It’s nice to be loved.

I’ll love you all right, she threatened.

Bring it on, he took up the challenge.

Henry love, Jessica asked Hack, Can you please get my boxes from the flatbed? Hack gladly fetched her boxes. As he unstrapped and unloaded each one, he held them up for her inspection. To Jessica’s relief, despite the bloodstains, none of them had any damage from all the commotion, not even the one she bought for Hack. Well, it was for her, too, technically. The boxes were the real reason that Dallas had gone into town in the first place, but then he just had to stop at the Pig and Whistle for that damned Reuben.

This was what she spent some of her money on, the hardware she needed to go full-blown techno like Mariah. Hack put it all in neatly organized piles in the computer bay, except for the one Jessica bought for him. He put that one on the shelf with some of his other parts. Hack then followed Mariah’s task list to unpack and arrange it all for her in the order she would install it.

~~~

Rachel linked