The Vershek Deception: Storm Surge

By Niall Bucannon

When the Alacel Star destroyed the Confederacy vortexes, starvation threatened billions. A Pirate Brotherhood attack derails the Eden Sector vortex creation when the Empress puts MacGregor CR in charge. The fortuitous arrival of Scheherazade's crew at Eden after their own problems puts the vortex creation back on track. But faster particlespace travel brings its own nightmares as a storm surge threatens to overrun the Confederacy in this conclusion to the Vershek Deception.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Niall Bucannon
• Release date: Apr 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005592035

Book preview

Books by Niall Bucannon

The Confederacy Universe

Vortex Wars

Scheherazade

Business Below the Fold

Storm Surge

The Vershek Deception (omnibus)

Autocrax Rising (coming soon)

Lucky Strike Coalition

We Stand Before (coming soon)

We Stand Between (coming soon)

THE VERSHEK

DECEPTION

STORM SURGE

By

Niall Bucannon

THE VERSHEK DECEPTION: STORM SURGE

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or events is coincidental.

Copyright 2019 by Niall Bucannon

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Author’s Foreword

Thanks for reading my books. I hope you enjoy them. My original concept for the Confederacy Universe came out of this book and its storyline from Ansili to Dremivor.

Please pardon any grammatical errors. I write without a computer or dictionary. I am eternally grateful to those folks who digitized my writing, then marketed the ebook.

GE 15:6

Chapter 1 STRATAGEMS

GalDate 3125AA 11.18 09:00

Alexicoff Compound, Clearview, Essikar, Essikar System

Citizens count on the Empress to protect them when enemies strike at the Confederacy.

The Confederacy Broadcast Network

VR History Channel

3127AA

Empress Millicent Alouette Alexicoff glided into the council room in a white silk dress and a gold tiara with a brow-centered ruby. The room’s current residents stood for her before the majordomo announced her. Her consort, Marius Alexicoff bin Jerez, seated before he retreated to her shadow.

Please begin Admiral Hoc, the Empress said.

The Director of Naval Operations activated the holo display above the gold-laced granite table. A representation of the Confederacy that included known fleet concentrations appeared.

Hoc said, We lost 8% of our capital ship tonnage in the EPA Zone yesterday. We project a further 2 to 3% losses based on proximity in the other terminus zones.

What about commercial tonnage, Admiral? the I.I. CEO known only as Jeem inquired. The two-headed N’Doth wore a loose brown robe of an unadorned woolish substance. Two sets of all-white eyes peered at Admiral Hoc.

We estimate a 32% loss of bulk commercial tonnage. Admiral Hoc’s reply drew a polite cough from the HOT Speaker of the House. The Empress nodded.

Tell them, Sergei said to Joella van Smoot, leader of the HOT agro block.

She delivered the bad news. The EIZ just lost two months of proto-gruel shipments with no way for us to make it up. Planetary reserves might last a month. The Jerez Combine estimates two years for us to replace that lost capacity. Other shippers will face similar constraints.

Sergei Alexicoff piled on, Food shortages, inflation, massive civil unrest, and population die-offs.

Admiral Warvil ni Bila, Director of Naval Procurement, interjected, Building on top of naval tonnage, Empress. I’ll start prioritizing the accumulation of resources, but over 60% of it originates in the outer zones and is delivered through the vortexes.

Empress Millicent turned to Jeem. Who destroyed our vortexes? No one believed Maribel acted alone. Unfortunately, the vortex destruction also disrupted many information conduits, and the planetary data warehouse links within EPHONE. It complicated figuring out who did what without the Confederacy-wide transit records stored in the now-slagged EPA headquarters in the former tri-terminus zone.

The I.I. CEO head replied, Empress, it’s too soon for certainty.

Hoc interrupted, The hell with certainty! They seized a dozen planets right before they crippled our naval response, Jeem. What’s more certain than that? Hoc looked at the Empress. We lost our first responders transiting the vortexes. But we’re at war with the Domination.

She declined a response to Hoc’s assertion, and instead looked at her little brother. Sergei, how long will creating another vortex take?

Sergei shifted slightly, then said, Eden Sector has three finalists. We pick one, then its transit time back and forth. Figure on six months, Empress. He nodded at the end.

Hoc’s voice rose. FORGET Eden! Create a new DunRobin vortex! Arguments over where a new vortex should lead broke out.

Sergei smothered it. SOPHONTS, we can NOT put a vortex anywhere but to Eden at this time. Particlespace instability prevents it, and we have a single ship prepared for the task. Once we complete the Eden project, we can sort out the next, but the process for Caramor, DunRobin, and Cranstible could take years.

The Empress said, Admiral ni Bila, how will the loss of EFF Funding...

The meeting continued into the afternoon.

Chapter 2 CHOICES

GalDate 3125AA 11.18 11:15

Essikar System

Non-Citizens castigate Citizen society for its conspicuous consumption and antiquated social mores. They disregard that those social mores leash and collar the savage beast within all sophonts when disaster strikes. The Citizens’ leash and collar protects Confederacy society when civilization crumbles around it. Citizens choose civic duty and civilization over barbarism.

Malani Jasco

3138AA

Citizens and non-citizens faced immediate problems without the food fleets as both Joella and Sergei predicted. They handled those problems in different ways.

Jayan Alford walked in the Alford Family Data Communications & Supply front door, through the showroom, and back to the warehouse. He found his wife observing the automated data cilia extruder.

Dora Alford came from humble non-citizen roots outside the EIZ on Lastways. Her CAT academy acceptance test results earned her nothing attractive. Non-citizen children lacked many of the education aids citizen families took for granted.

But Dora worked hard. She understood her first step into citizenship required personal sacrifice. So she dug through the Academy job listings, held her nose and contracted for five years with the Alford family business in exchange for Academy schooling in Grila on Essikar. She paid for her parents’ and baby brother’s citizenship ten years later. She brought them to Essikar when she renewed her Alford contract. Dora married into the business and ran the home office with her lifemate, Jayan.

Dora smiled at Jayan, I swapped out the spinner. Just mothering the first run. Did you get the contract?

Jayan hugged her. Yes. The Jerez Combine just notified the Tactical House that they can’t meet the food delivery contract.

Dora’s smile evaporated. The citizens within many honor houses pooled their purchasing power in return for lower prices. They also paid before they received up front.

The vortexes, Jayan said. With the destruction of the three particlespace vortexes that served as high-speed transit systems for offplanet shippers, most of Grila, of Essikar, was still in shock. But now the consequences of that event rippled through citizen society.

Dora asked, How long? How much will we get?

Too early to tell, but JC says at least two months. We’ll receive 900 instead of 1,800 calories a day. Dora winced. The food processors converted proto-gruel into meals. Many of Essikar’s 18 billion residents would go without meals in the near future.

Dora took charge. Get the word out to every staff family, then our primary customers. Use the chipverts feed. The business rarely used the brainchip advertising list. Many comStor users filtered out all direct advertising to their brains. But the Alford family’s pledge not to misuse it kept their primary customers loyal and receptive to it. Now it could save them.

Our tanks are nearly empty, Jayan’s stomach grumbled.

She hugged him again. Everyone eats, hon. We’ll pool our stores and get through it. Now get to it.

Jayan smiled for the first time since leaving the Tactical House. Dora stepped over to the viewscreen and pinged a friend. A green scaled humanoforf’s face appeared.

You heard? Nori Ahmos, the Tactical House nutritionist, asked.

Alford’s pooling and sharing. Does Tactical have a plan yet?

Tori’s working the House Alliance angle right now. I’m trying to figure out the best source outside the EIZ to contract for new shipments. Nori’s adaptation to forest environments on Highwood for her CAT Academy training gave her a unique perspective as a full-time nutritionist.

And Jerez Combine?

Nori said, They gave us the option of contract damages or a share in the extra shipments they bring insystem.

Tactical took the second, right? Dora asked. Nori looked at her strangely. Just checking, Dora blushed. They’re the food delivery pros. That’s the right choice.

20:00 hour compound meeting. Tori will lay it all out including our response options.

Save Jay and I seats? Dora requested. Nori nodded. Other citizens among the honor houses repeated Dora and Nori’s conversation and actions as they worked cooperatively and solved the problems everyone faced. Not every planetary population, especially those who opted out of the Confederacy, but resided just outside an incorporated zone and depended on a vortex trade route for food deliveries, responded in the same fashion.

In the dictatorial Yorcan System outside the EIZ, Voice Lircan finished tearing a verbal strip from General Ebron for failing to suppress the planetwide food riots.