Alexandra Forever 2291 — Book One: The Strange Matter of the Red Dwarf

By D.W. Richards

A red dwarf system bursts into our universe. Is it merely a star system or is it something else entirely?

 

This frequently humorous space opera adventure opens on the crest of a gravity tsunami, when a red dwarf star system punches through the fabric of space-time and barrels toward the Milky Way Galaxy. The Early Warning Centre can only watch helplessly as colonized space braces for impact.

 

The dire situation takes an unforeseen twist in this science fantasy when an SOS transmission from a long-lost experimental starship, The Invictus, is traced to the sole planet orbiting the red dwarf.

 

Alexandra, Post Office Marshal and living goddess, is in an action-packed race against time when she is conscripted to retrieve either The Invictus itself or, failing that, its top-secret data, before the ship is lost to imminent galactic collision, or worse, falls into the wrong hands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.W. Richards
• Release date: Feb 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215385364

Book preview

Alexandra Forever 2291

Book One

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––––––––

The Strange Matter of the Red Dwarf

D.W. Richards

Alexandra Forever 2291

Book One

The Strange Matter of the Red Dwarf

Copyright © 2020 by D.W. Richards

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

First Printing, 2020

All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

D.W. Richards

www.dwrichardsauthor.com

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ISBN: 978-0-9867380-6-7

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Preface

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Open Ended:

The Alexandra Forever 2291 series of eight novellas was written with Kindle Unlimited in mind. As a consequence, the narrative follows a continuous, uninterrupted arc, from Book One through to Book Eight, where the story comes to fruition.

The result is that each novella, to Book Eight, is open ended and closes with To be continued....

Tense:

The novella switches back and forth between present and past tense. When the narrator is speaking directly to the reader, which occurs frequently in the first paragraph of a chapter, it is done in the present tense. Alternately, when the narrator is recounting what has transpired, the narrative is in the past tense.

Use of Footnotes:

Throughout the story, footnotes have been used. They are there merely to flesh out the Alexandra Forever universe and have no direct bearing on the central story. Skipping them will not adversely affect your ability to follow the plot, but might reduce your enjoyment.

Reader Advisement: Some violence, some language

Your book review helps:

It is the nature of any creator-made content that engagement and social proof are helpful to the creator. Which is why, in the case of this novella, leaving a brief, spoiler-free review is greatly appreciated. Reviews help increase ranking and serve to assist prospective readers with their buying decisions. However, if leaving a review is not something you are comfortable with, that is perfectly fine. I am sincerely thankful for your interest in this book.

Table Of Contents

Prelude

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

About The Author

Other Works In The Alexandra Forever Collection

Prelude

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T

his tale is my Iliad.[1] I was greatly honoured when the Goddess Alexandra entrusted me, Priestess Nanette, head librarian and official scribe at the Temple of Evermore, to document the series of events leading up to the genocidal invasion force gathering to destroy our home world. I have been changed by this task. In my research, I have come to learn of things that I wish I could unknow.

What I have written is, to the best of my knowledge, true. Admittedly, artistic liberties were taken. In an age of innumerable gadgets that simply record, it is only through a writer’s skill that the blanks can be filled in and the essence of human drama added. Where possible, I referenced footage from recording devices. As well, interviews from participants and witnesses, of admittedly varying reliability, were used to help flesh out the details.

Since footage was sparse and witnesses elusive, and because more than a few of the critical participants are now dead, I was frequently left to find other means with which to piece things together. In instances when even those within the coven blessed with second sight could not provide counsel, I used my imagination. The inciting incident, and beginning of this great saga, is the arrival of something darkly wicked. This is where Book One opens.

Chapter One

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C

hen’s crew was nothing if not befitting of the title of pirate. Bereft of a moral compass, they had no sense of loyalty that extended much beyond aligning themselves with those who could provide them with the best life. The three that had been left behind to watch over the aging Corvette class starship, the Mara, while the rest of the crew were off attempting to acquire a vastly superior vessel, the Long, were no different.

Assad, a large, gruesome man and unchallenged leader of the three, orbited the captain’s chair as soon as he felt sure they were alone. But no sooner had his orbit started than it began to rapidly decay. Finally lowering himself into the chair’s throne-like grandeur, Assad found it to be intoxicatingly comfortable. He remained there for a while, soaking in the bridge and the possibility teased at by the vista that lay through the one section of forward windows not partially obstructed by the space-station mooring. He imagined a grand life of wealth and power. The Mara showed her age at times, Assad conceded, but he knew that she had plenty of fight still in her.

Left in the silence with his ambitions, the lure of easy pickings became too much for him. Assad flicked a switch on the chair’s arm console, as he had seen Chen do so many times, and opened a ship-wide hail.

Crew to the bridge, he directed.

Luc was in the bowels of the engine room when he heard the call. Lanky in build, he had long ago found for himself a cubby space that no one else seemed to know about, buried in among the machinery — likely, he reasoned, because no one else could fit. He had subtly made the space his own. Personal possessions were tucked here and there, but not to the extent of risking detection.

When Assad’s voice came over the intercom, it had to transverse the layers of gantry and mechanical buttresses to reach Luc, and there further compete with the white noise that ceaselessly permeated the engine room, even when in dock. Which was, in part, why Luc was not sure that he had heard correctly, the other reason being that there was no one of rank on the ship.

He stopped eating his sandwich and listened. Hearing nothing but the mechanically coursing veins of the Mara, he resumed his lunch, only to be interrupted by a second summons.   

Perturbed, Luc packed up his sandwich, put it into a little cooler he had hidden away within the confines of his cubby and manoeuvred his way out through the inner workings to the main engine room. He proceeded directly to the wall-mounted intercom panel and opened up his own ship-wide channel.

Are you in the captain’s chair? Luc asked. 

I am, Assad replied, his voice still being broadcast throughout the ship.

Are you nuts?

I am not.

Chen monitors that sort of thing.

I know he does. That’s why I shut everything down.

He’ll catch on, Luc noted, nervously.

Eventually.

You are a dead man, Luc declared. Panic was welling up. And you might have killed us all.

Get up here, Assad’s voice boomed calmly.

The pair of you, a woman broadcasted. The timbre of her voice straddled grandmotherly and cackling witch. Her irritation was evident. I take one minute for myself to go to the latrine and you two idiots start whipping yourselves up into mutiny during my absence.

Sandy? Luc asked.

Who else is it going to be? she responded.

Is that what we’re doing? Luc asked. Planning a mutiny?

Luc, you are dumber than bait, Sandy proclaimed.

No harm to be had in talking, Assad remarked.

There’s plenty of harm to be had in talkin’, Luc noted.

Just get to the bridge, Assad said.

Not sure if he was for or against having the conversation that awaited him, Luc left the engine room for the bridge. As he walked, he found himself appraising his surroundings with a buyer’s eye. Everything had purpose or it didn’t have a place, even in the corridors. The Mara was getting on in years and had been retrofit a couple of times, but she was solid. Maybe Chen’s misplaced trust was the break Luc had been waiting for.

When he reached the bridge, Sandy was already there. She and Assad had been conversing on the central topic until his arrival.

We are pirates, Assad reminded Luc, and this is an act of piracy.

The more I mull this over, the more of a no-brainer it seems to be, Sandy commented. Uncouple the ship and off we go.

We’re a crew of three, Luc noted.

That’s enough, Assad replied. "All we’re doing is