Singular

By Daniel Roy

In the 27th century, Jake, the best fighter pilot in the galaxy, has a bounty on her head. After years of evading capture by agents of a ruthless emperor, she is finally cornered. The ensuing battle leaves Jake severely injured, allowing the emperor to transcend her essence – her thoughts, her memories, her being – into a small containment element and then install the unit within a sophisticated robotic body that is a perfect replica of her former self. Built into her robotics is a device that inflicts pain. This correction device is used to force Jake into fighting against the Alliance, the only army standing in the way of the emperor's plan for galactic dominance.

"Singular" tells a fast-reading story filled with conflict, action, suspense, and intrigue, and is sprinkled with a touch of humour.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350916102

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© 2023 Daniel Roy All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN 979-8-35091-609-6 eBook 979-8-35091-610-2

Acknowledgment

A special thank you to my dearest friend Barb,

for her words of support and encouragement.

Chapter 1

The Bounty

Darkness shrouded the outer reaches of the Milky Way galaxy, a place where feeble stars lacked the fuel to illuminate the vast expanses of emptiness. Within this sector, only one in five stars possessed sufficient mass to capture and harbor a cluster of celestial bodies. One such orb, Delpha, held six planets and seven moons, each sphere locked in perfect harmony with the gravitational pull of its sun or planet. Ghauntae, the second furthest planet from Delpha, yielded a bare measure of ingredients to sustain life.

From the abyss, a sleek spacecraft streaked toward the dingy brown sphere. Blasts of energy from directional thrusters initiated a pivoting action on the ship’s central axes as the craft maintained velocity. The maneuver continued until the aft pointed forward, the thrusters firing again, ending the rotation. The main engines ignited, and the linear momentum diminished rapidly. Again, thrusters fired, and the craft rotated until the ship faced forward. As the planet’s gravity drew the ship towards its core, final adjustments were made to the angle of approach. Heat shields began to glow as the spaceship entered Ghauntae’s atmosphere.

On the planet’s surface, a storm had descended from the Mueller Mountains, assaulting the lesser mining colony of Volegher. Ominous black clouds cloaked the settlement in eerie darkness as sand and grit pelted the squat clay buildings. Closed metal shutters rattled as the sandstorm raged on.

Safe from the lashing winds, a gathering of locals and transients huddled within the confines of the community’s lone watering hole, a tavern named The Pit. A mixture of light and shadow blended ample space for celebration with darkened nooks for a measure of privacy.

Nestled in the shadows of a corner booth, Emma Maria Jacobs, known to most only as Jake, sat with her back to an end wall. She wore a charcoal-black cloak, its deep hood pulled forward, her facial features indistinguishable within the gloom. From her vantage point, the view of the tavern’s interior was unobstructed. Jake leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table, her hands caressing a small bowl of tea, absorbing its warmth. She leaned closer, breathing in the sweet herbal-lemon aroma wafting from the container before taking a sip.

An arm’s length away, Jake’s friend and business partner, Jon Egan, a wiry man in his late thirties, shared the same bench seat. The pads of his fingertips drummed a simple rhythm on the sides of a coffee mug. The two companions appeared relaxed, but each kept a wary eye on any patron who paid them more than a moment’s notice.

Jake turned her head, angling an ear upward as the building’s structure flexed in response to a sudden increase in wind velocity. Wood, steel, concrete, and clay groaned under the strain. A hush fell within the tavern, everyone looking to the ceiling as though the roof might be ripped from its fastenings. A moment later, the rising forces subsided, returning to the strength of a Category 4 gale.

Egan leaned toward Jake, placed the edge of his hand on the corner of his mouth and spoke at a level only she could hear. That wasn’t the storm. As Jake nodded in agreement, Egan slid from the booth and walked in the direction of the men’s room located beyond the bar.

Near the edge of town, high-tech engines, much quieter than the storm, provided precise amounts of directional energy, allowing the sleek spaceship to settle to the ground unaffected by the undulating forces of the gale. As propulsion systems shut down, the rear hatch opened and out stepped the craft’s lone occupant. The pilot wore a helmet with a broad-banded shield protecting his eyes and a meshed filter covering his nose, mouth, and chin. Minor scuffs and deep scratches scarred its surface. A long flowing leather coat flapped savagely. As the hatch closed, the man clutched his lapels, leaned into the wind, and began trudging toward the tavern.

During the time it took the craft to land, Egan had inconspicuously attached a tiny camera to a support beam behind the bar and had entered the men’s room. There, he had secured a location inside a cubicle, removed a wafer-sized receiver from his pocket, and switched it on. An image of the bar and the front entrance filled a screen. Egan removed a gun from its holster and waited.

Jake sat upright and cast her gaze upon the main entrance, like a sixth sense had warned her of something to come--or it may have been her keen sense of hearing intermixed with wariness, always on the lookout for bounty hunters or the emperor’s soldiers. The front door swung open with a crash, the wind whipping sand and grit into the tavern as the pilot ducked his head and stepped past the threshold. He walked into the room leaving the door agape, exposing the interior to the raging storm. Continuing to wear his helmet, the stranger paused at the top of a flight of stairs.

An old woman seated at a table on the mezzanine struggled to her feet, hobbled to the opening, and mustered barely enough strength to close the door. On the way back to her table, she stopped, looked up at the stranger, and hocked phlegm from the back of her throat. The pilot opened his coat, exposing a holstered weapon. He slid his hand over the grip. The old woman backed away, gagging as she swallowed. She gave the stranger the evil eye before returning to her table and her mug of brew.

The pilot scanned the tavern’s interior, paying particular attention to its patrons. Within his headgear, visual readouts were displayed on a thin panoramic screen. Sensors scanned faces, shapes, movements, sounds, and fluctuations of heat; even the area behind him was visible. All eyes looked back, but no one dared to move. The only sounds were the wind’s muffled wail and the persistent coughing of the old woman. The stranger continued to scan as he sauntered down the steps, the stair treads straining under his weight. He paused on the landing and then proceeded to the bar.

A mature and alluring barmaid stood behind the counter, waiting patiently, tapping her fingernails on the granite countertop. Tradition buys a stranger the first glass. What’ll it be?

The pilot removed his helmet and placed it on the bar. He turned, peering into the shadows of the booths at the outer reaches of the room. He then returned his attention to the woman behind the bar. I’m looking for someone.

The barmaid studied the man’s eyes for a moment, then rested a hand on the taps and plunked a frosted mug on the counter. I earn my keep by serving drinks.

The man removed an item from his pocket and slapped it onto the bar. He slid his hand away, exposing a solid gold disc. The barmaid maintained direct eye contact with the stranger. Ale or lager? She placed a shot glass next to the beer mug. Or something stronger?

A lawman cautiously walked up to the bar. He also