Deception Transit: Star Ascension, #6

By Jeremy Michelson

The galaxy stands at the brink of war. A mysterious, reclusive alien race holds the key to stopping it.

 

They don't want to.

 

Roy DeHaas must get to the Tann home world. A powerful alien race no one has ever seen face to face.

 

Turns out, getting there is the easy part.

 

Getting out might not be possible.

 

The Tann have their own plans for the coming war. And they have an ally that will shock Roy down to his core.

 

If he can't stop them, everyone and everything he loves is doomed.

 

But there's one thing the Tann don't know. A DeHaas never gives up.

 

Especially when his family is at stake.

 

The next thrilling chapter in the Star Ascension series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeremy Michelson
• Release date: Feb 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224492817

Book preview

ONE

Roy

Red and black Don armor covered me from head to toe. The faintest whiff of Ms. Daisy’s citrus and lavender scent clung to my skin.

I missed her already.

Why the hell couldn’t I keep the armor, Roy?

Her voice in my helmet bounced between my ears in a guilty ricochet.

The Guardian wouldn’t let us take it off planet, remember? I said.

It’s not fair.

I woulda agreed with her, but at the moment, I had other things to concern me.

Like the odds of surviving this little excursion. I stood in the airlock of the sleek Dendon ship Seven had gifted us with. Through the viewport, a blue-green world slowly turned.

It wasn’t familiar old Earth.

No, this was the home planet of the Tann.

Somewhere down on that marble were a couple friends of mine. Chris and Liz. Two of the most powerful entities in the galaxy. Who had, somehow, gotten themselves captured by the Tann.

Who were supposedly on our side.

There were a lot of missing pieces here.

Like why had the Tann taken them?

And what were they doing with them?

Also, why the heck hadn’t Chris and Liz already busted themselves out of there?

Finally, what were my chances of surviving this?

Sadly, I figured the answer to my last question was: slim to none.

Why do I have to stay with the ship? Ms. Daisy said through the comm link in my helmet.

We had already been over this. Least, I thought we had.

Because I have the armor and you don’t, I said, And the Tann are kind of shoot first and not bother with any questions kind of folks.

"But I have armor," she said, Remember?

Technically she did. The Space Marine Armor that Buck had brought along to Dendon. Then immediately convinced us to leave behind.

We’d retrieved it, along with enough human food to get us by for a while.

I was having a hard time convincing Ms. Daisy that Space Marine Armor, nice as it was, wasn’t any better than tissue paper against Tann weapons.

Even my Don Armor wasn’t exactly a sure bet.

I need you to fly the ship, I said, And make sure the suspension capsules are safe.

You don’t need me to do that, Ms. Daisy said, The ship can do that just fine.

It’s true. I can, the ship said.

I wanted to beat my head against the wall. But with my armor on, that would do more damage to the airlock than my head.

I really liked it better when the ship didn’t talk.

About scared me out of my britches when the thing piped up after we dropped T&T off on Earth.

Hello, Chancellor Roy DeHass, would you like me to adjust the seat for your comfort?

Five–which was the A.I. controlling a spaceport on Dendon–had explained the ship he prepared for us was inhabited by an A.I. Which was fine, I couldn’t fly a spaceship if my ass were on fire and wings grew out of my nostrils.

However, Five hadn’t said anything about the A.I. talking. Or having a personality. One with a disturbingly sexy, velvety female voice.

I am perfectly capable of managing all onboard operations without human supervision, Left said.

Also continuing the Dendon habit of nonsensical names for A.I.s.

Made me wonder if there was a Right somewhere missing its Left.

See? Ms. Daisy said, Left, open up the airlock and let me in.

Chancellor? Left said.

I reconsidered beating my head against the wall. Decided for the long term good of both the ship and my little redneck brain, I should hold off.

Sweetie, I said, (to Ms. Daisy, not the ship) You Space Marine Armor is–

Perfectly capable of zero-g vacuum work, she said, Now tell Left to open the door, you chauvinist redneck asshat.

Daisy Tanaka is correct in her assessment, Left said, Her armor is suitable for the mission you are undertaking.

I sensed this was a battle I wasn’t gonna win. Still, I wasn’t gonna give up just yet.

I–

The ship lurched as something struck it.

Metal crunched and groaned. The lights flickered. Alarms started bleating.

Left! I shouted.

Taking evasive maneuvers, Left said.

The ship seemed to spin on its axis. Flinging me across the airlock. I slammed against the wall. Hard enough to nearly black me out.

Deploy weapons?

My armor, having its own A.I., was wanting to join the fight. Whatever the fight might be.

Created by bloodthirsty Dons, my armor was often a lot more aggressive than I wanted it to be.

No! I shouted at it.

No what, Roy? Left said.

Not you!

Who, me? Ms. Daisy said, "You don’t get to tell me no, buster. This isn’t the twentieth century, you know."

No, not you, or you, I said, Talking to my armor.

Acknowledged, Left said, Brace for maneuvers.

Ah, cra–

The ship spun over and over.

I bounced around the airlock like an armored, redneck pinball.

Wasn’t my finest moment.

Damage to primary leg actuators, my armor said, Armor repair capacity at forty percent.

What the hell? Just for getting bounced around?

Not for the first time did I wish for some better armor. I mean, the Don stuff was really good. But…sometimes it had issues.

What’s going on out there! I shouted, Who’s attacking us?

Left’s throaty, smooth as silk voice filled my helmet.

We are being attacked by Tann fighter craft, Left said, They were deployed from a cloaked orbital station. Apparently, my sensors have a blind spot due to malfunctioning wave collectors in my rear quadrant.

Sure, a couple thousand years of sitting in a hangar could do that.

Jump us out of here! I said.

No go, Ms. Daisy said, I’ve got indicators flashing all over the place here. Looks like they damaged the L-Drive.

Oh, fu–

Left! Is the L-Drive okay?

The L-Drive is not communicating at the moment, Left said, I am currently busy with evasive maneu–

Something slammed the ship.

Hard.

Hard enough to shut down the gravity generators. One second I was pinned to the wall. The next I was floating in free fall.

My stomach twisted with the sudden sensation of falling. I bit down the acidy bile that threatened to explode up my throat.

A haze of blue smoke hung in the air. Emergency lights flashed red. Alarms bleated.

Roy, Left said, There is critical damage to the ship. I cannot allow a Dendon vessel to be captured. I have no choice. Good luck, Chancellor.

A jolt of panic gripped my chest in a vice.

Left? Wha–

The airlock hatch behind me blew open.

Explosive decompression blew me out of the ship before I could even blink.

I spun and tumbled. The blue-green planet below rolled past me with dizzying speed.

Stabilize us! I mentally shouted at my armor.

Working.

Tiny thrusters fired across my body, slowing the spin.

The planet slowed its nauseating rotation.

I looked up toward where I thought the ship might be.

Only to see a sharp crack of light.

Then the fiery blossom of an explosion.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

TWO

Kayd Lalhan

From the outside, the cargo ship, the Vandan's Liver, had looked like a large tube with a fat engine pack at the end. No different than any other Don cargo carrier she'd seen. Unremarkable in every way.

Kayd Lalhan had wondered at its purpose as the Torgun's Teeth had approached it and the battlecruiser, Utag's Victory. Two ships orbiting a tiny cinder of a planetoid.

Also worth contemplating was how the Don Navy had found this blackened chunk of rock and metal in the dark space between solar systems.

Perhaps it hadn’t been found.

Perhaps it had been put there, far from the normal shipping lanes.

Just in case it might be needed.

Such feats of engineering weren’t beyond the abilities of Don science. After all, it was just a matter of applying force.

The Don understood the application of force.

It was unpleasant to be on the receiving end of it, however.

The wizened old woman, her skin wrinkled skin so faded it was almost gray, had led her deep into the center of the ship.

Kayd had padded behind her. Amusing herself by imagining her hand driving a dagger into the crone’s back. It helped offset the fear that clawed at her belly.

Don feared nothing.

Fear was weakness.

Weakness was for the prey. Not the hunter.

Don were predators. The finest predators ever to exist.

The Don killed an entire race. The strongest, most powerful, most technologically advanced race ever known.

If that wasn’t proof of the Don’s supremacy then….what was?

It was a question her mind skittered away from.

The alpha predators had been exiled from their homeworld. Forced to wander the darkness between the stars. Stuck in cans like the Vandan's Liver. Living a menial existence.

It was unworthy of proud warriors.

She would do anything to bring the Don back to their glory.

That is what she kept saying to herself as the old woman brought her to an armored doorway, deep within the ship. A doorway guarded by two large, healthy males armed with projectile weapons in their hands and swords strapped to their backs.

The two guards exuded a strong male musk that activated lower parts of Kayd’s brain. Parts that had interest in mating with big, strong warriors.

These cravings were easily brushed aside. She was not a lower caste female. While she was hardly of a class with royalty, her mating urges were fully under her control. It would take a much higher level male to make her consider a mating bond.

Her current circumstances made that seem even more unlikely.

The old woman half turned, her gaze sharp and hard on Kayd. The crone’s shapeless black robe rustled about her, the cowl and hood over her head hiding her features in shadow. A bitter scent of age hung in the air about her, like a rancid cloud. Normally any Don that grew to such a disgusting age would cover their bitter odor with perfumes of charred wood or kanad flowers.

Those things were gone for now.

Don scientists could synthesize many of the compounds. But it wasn’t the same.

Nothing was the same any longer.

You will hold your tongue, youngling, the old woman–Hej Knotcax was her name–said.

Kayd drew herself up, striking an imperious pose.

I am not a child, she said, "And I am not of any Collective. You do not command me, elder."

Hej Knotcax moved. So fast that Kayd had no time to react.

The old woman’s hand darted from her voluminous sleeve and slapped Kayd’s cheek. So hard Kayd spun and fell to the floor.

She put her hand to her stinging cheek.

Red hot rage blazed up within her.

She started to leap to her feet.

The old woman’s foot shot out. Connected solidly with Kayd’s chest. Sending her back to the floor. This time gasping for breath as pain radiated out from her center.

A wrinkled, pale face appeared over her.

"Listen carefully, youngling, Hej Knotcax said. Her voice calm. Barely more than a whisper. Given choices, none of us would be here. But we are. Our Queen commands us. For the greater glory of the Don. For the glory that was, and the glory that shall be again. You are part of my Collective. You will behave. You will obey. Do not think you are so valuable that you are above me. This is a long term project, little mother. You are replaceable. Should you prove troublesome. Do you understand?"

Kayd stared into the crone’s icy eyes and saw her fate if she did not understand.

Yet she could not give the crone the satisfaction of her fear. To give in would make her weak in the crone’s eyes. And weakness was rewarded with endless contempt.

"I understand. Old mother, she said, Yet…the Queen specifically chose me for this project. Who would feel her wrath if something happened to me before the project even started?"

The old woman’s face twisted with rage. She drew her arm back as if to strike Kayd again.

But held her blow.

Behind the crone, the two guards snickered.

The old woman stiffened. Some color came back to her pale face.

She straightened up, her hands disappearing back into her sleeves.

Get up, insolent child, she said, "We have work to do. The scientist is eager to begin."

Kayd took her time getting to her feet. Making a show of brushing dust from her clothing. Hej stood in silence, her eyes hard and promising retribution for each moment’s delay.

There would be payment for this. But dominance was never achieved through obedience. Being good was the same thing as being weak.

Whatever the Queen wanted her for, it seemed unlikely it was to play a passive role in some old hag’s Collective.

Why in the name of Mamkok’s tits did they want her in a Collective? Collectives were for breeding females and wet nurses and old women.

A chill ran through her.

Little mother.

No.

It was ridiculous. Why bring her out to the darkness just to…breed her? Three ships. Dozens, if not hundreds of crew. Communications blackouts and a place no star chart listed.

No, there had to be another reason. Some secret weapon being developed. Some secret plan to restore HeJovna. Make it livable for her children once more.

If so…what was she doing here?

She had no science background. Her talents lay in covert operations.

…you have spent much time interacting with humans. Are you able to tolerate them?

The Terrans were the enemy. This had something to do with them.

She waved her hand at the armored doorway.

Well, are we just going to stand here, she said, Or am to finally learn just why I am here?

The old woman glared daggers at her once more, then pivoted and snapped her fingers at the guards.

Who were not even trying to hide their smirks.

One touched a scanner panel beside the door. Heavy locks thunked within the door before it slowly rolled aside.

What could they be keeping here that needed such security?

Hej moved through the doorway, her shapeless robe rustling with her steps. Kayd followed, the armored door rolling shut as soon as she passed the threshold.

Immediately she was struck by a sharp scent of cleansing agents. Acrid odors reminiscent of medical facilities.

The room they entered was a large, well-lit chamber. There was a good-sized, circular table in the center of the room. Arrayed around it were seven chairs.

There appeared to be nothing else in the room. The walls were white. Free of any sort of decoration. The deck plates were covered with some sort of wood veneer. A useless and extravagant expense for a cargo ship.

Just the size of the room was extravagant. Space in a starship was never wasted.

Except for the quarters of those in command, of course.

And the spaces reserved for the very important.

The room made her nervous. So she stood ramrod straight, hands clasped behind her back so the old crone would not sense her discomfort.

A door at the other side of the room slid aside.

A small, weak looking male entered.

He was unremarkable. His body and limbs were thin, lacking the robust muscularity of warriors. The tentacles that sprouted from the sides of his head were healthy looking though. Glossy and pert. A bit on the thin side, however. Like the rest of him.

He wore the white tunic and pants of the Science caste. There was an insignia of rank on his chest. A shiny silver trinket that looked like he’d recently polished it.

Too bad she had never bothered to learn the ranking system for scientists. The shiny thing might have meant something.

The scientist stopped at the opposite side of the table. He smiled at her. A peaceful smile, one without bared teeth.

Weakness.

True Don males always bared their teeth.

Ah, greetings, the scientist said. Even his voice was weak. Passivity radiated off him. Enough that it awoke her own predator’s instinct. It took an effort of will to not jump across the table and tear his throat out with her nails.

Perhaps sensing her hunter’s lust, the scientist moved behind the nearest chair.

You are Kayd Lalhan, recently of the Jome embassy, he said.

Of course I am, she snapped, I was doing important work on Jome. Now I am here. Tell me why.

His cheeks darkened and he shuffled from foot to foot.

To keep her instincts in check, she grabbed the back of the nearest chair and sunk her claws into it.

Ah, yes, well… the scientist.

Start with your name, Kayd said, Then explain the project and what my part in it is.

The scientist’s face flushed even darker, if that were possible.

My name…my name is Tey Tabnot, Scientist Level 1, the scientist said, I have been given control of this project by the Queen herself. A great many resources have been allocated toward its success.

Kayd crossed her arms over her chest.

And the project? What is it? She said, And why is my presence necessary?

Tey Tabnot shuffled from foot to foot again, looking away from her. He seemed…embarrassed.

How disgustingly weak. Had the Queen herself really charged this creature with an important project?

It seemed unlikely.

The project… he said, We have a sample of human DNA. We are going to clone this human. We need a female to carry the fetus. And then raise it. So that it may be trained to infiltrate the Terran’s society.

Shock froze her in place. Her breath was caught in her throat. Even her heart seemed to have stopped beating.

…carry the fetus…

Little mother…

THREE

Roy

NOOOOOOOO!!!

The universe continued to spin around me as I hurtled through the space above the Tann homeworld.

I couldn’t turn my eyes away from the expanding cloud of debris. Even as I raced farther away from it.

The 360-degree view provided by my armor wouldn't let me look away.

Daisy…Momma…Buck…

Gone.

I was encased in a suit of alien armor. Spinning above an alien planet. Millions and millions and millions of miles from home. Everything I loved snatched away from me in a single, shattering burst of light.

My soul shattered with it.

Much as I wanted to die along with them…there was more than just them to think about.

Her citrus and lavender scent was still on my skin…

I blinked away the sting in my eyes.

Two sleek, dart-shaped ships caught the sunlight above the planet. They pivoted my way.

Stop the spin! I shouted at my armor.

I must eject mass to use thrusters. We do not have enough mass to spare.

I cursed it.

Don’t we have some gravity generators? I said.

Gravity generators are offline. Attempting repairs.

What the hell? Why was the armor malfunctioning so much?

Hostile ships approaching, the armor said, Shall I deploy weapons?

What good is that–Wait, yes! Deploy the plasma cannons!

Panels parted on my forearms. Twin barrels rose up and locked into place.

Use the cannons for thrust, I said, Send us into the atmosphere!

That would expose us to the vessels.

They already know we’re here!

They do not. I am currently generating a cloaking shield. When the vessels come within range, do you wish me to fire the plasma cannons?

Wait? What cloaking shield? We have a cloaking shield?

Yes. It is not a full class shield. I am not able to generate enough power to maintain a full class shield. Not without killing you.

That made me stop for a second. I knew the suit drew some of its energy (and mass) from my body. It was why I was often as hungry as a bear in springtime after using the armor for an extended time.

It wasn’t a pleasant thought, the armor sucking out all my energy. Taking everything until I was just a withered, dried up husk inside a metal shell.

Put away the plasma cannons, I said.

If I do that, we will be vulnerable to the vessels if their sensors penetrate the cloaking shield.

Just do it. Concentrate on keeping that shield on as best you can. Power it up as much as you dare.

Your actions are cowardly, but I will comply.

Stupid Don hardware.

I can hear you.

Stop reading my thoughts, you evil piece of junk.

I got back an indignant silence.

But the plasma blasters pulled back into their slots. I concentrated on making myself small and still. Through the armor’s passive sensors, I watched the two ships approach.

They moved at a leisurely pace. Gliding through the vacuum like twin silver darts. The closer they got, the more dart-like they looked. Long and tapered to a point at the front, with three fins at the back.

Actually, they looked a heck-of-a-lot like old sci-fi movie spaceships.

The fins had cylinders attached around the middle area that looked a whole lot like gun barrels.

Heat rushed through me. A knot of rage that made me want to scream out.

Those gun barrels wiped out my family. Took everything that was important to me.

Shall I deploy weapons?

Shut up and keep that shield on.

Maybe there’d be time to settle scores later. For now, I needed to survive. There were still two people who needed my help.

Though lord help me how I was gonna do that without Ms. Daisy and the ship to back me up.

I was a DeHass. We don’t give up. We keep on kicking until the bitter end.

I hung there in space, spinning like an armored, redneck moon over an alien planet, watching two murdering ships come my way. I made myself believe they were going that direction because they were on their way back to the coffee shop where they could high five themselves over their victory.

The heads up display in my helmet indicated the weapons on the ships were still hot. Ready to blow something else up, should the need arise.

I asked the armor if the ships were broadcasting. If they were communicating.

Tann vessels do not communicate across normal bands. They either have alternate methods of communicating, or they are running silent. Which would be an efficient way to hunt.

I swallowed hard. The stink of my sweat was overwhelming the lingering scent of Ms. Daisy.

Just the thought of her was like a cold hand squeezing my heart. I could hardly take a breath.

The Tann were hunters all right.

But not like the Don.

The Don hunted for pleasure. They got off on the chase…the fear of their prey.

The Tann were more…practical.

I’d never met one in person, but me and Buck had a couple close encounters with them. They were ruthlessly efficient. But not cruel.

And fiercely private.

They didn’t like anyone crowding them.

I shouldn’t have brought the ship in so close to the planet. I thought would could zip in and send me off. Left should have been able to jump the ship out of there before the Tann noticed.

Except I was going on too little local knowledge.

I didn’t know they had cloaked stations, loaded with attack craft, hot and ready to scramble.

My stupid overconfidence got the woman I loved killed. And Momma and Buck. They didn’t have a chance, stuck in those suspension capsules.

I’d forgotten the first rule of any covert operation: Expect everything to go wrong.

But then, I wasn’t paranoid as hell.

Like Buck.

I held my breath as the two ships slowly passed by. One was so close I could have reached out and touched its fin. The burnished silver metal was smooth as a baby's butt. Showing not a single seam.

The Tann's ships might have looked like they were out of the 1950s…but they were highly advanced. More advanced than the other races.

Probably advanced enough to give the Don a run for their money.

As the two ships sailed past and away from my position, I let out a ragged, half sobbing breath.

The ships suddenly pivoted. Turning around toward me again.

I gulped, every muscle in my body clenching.

Light flared behind the ships as their pilots killed the ship’s momentum. They came to a complete stop. I stared down six gun barrels. Wondering if my cloaking shield had suddenly stopped working.

The shield is still functional. I believe the ships will be coming back this way.

Awesome. Any other good news?

If I calculate the nearest ship’s trajectory correctly, it will strike us as it passes by.

That isn’t good news.

It will if I use maneuvering thrusters and matter bonders to attach us to the ship. We are a small enough mass that the vessel’s sensors might not detect us.

Sudden hope surged through me.

It was a lifeline.

Do it, I told the armor.

That same moment, light flashed behind the ships and they started coming my way.

They were coming fast, too. Must have decided there was nothing else out here and were heading back for the barn.

Stretch out your limbs, slowly. When the ship passes, position your hands on the nearest surface.

Easy for it to say.

The ships were zooming toward us. Going from toy-like size to huge in nothing flat.

Something pushed at my back. The closest fin passed right in front of my face.

Now!

I reached out.

My armored palms latched onto the slightly curving surface. The rest of my body bumped against the metal. And just as quickly stuck to it.

Matter bonders were common in SevenUnion. They were like magnetic boots, except they bonded a super thin layer of materials together. The bond could be turned off and on at will.

Handy.

Especially since I was stuck to the ship like a fly on a fly strip.

The ship I was on zoomed out ahead. The other ship fell behind. I tried to look up to see what it was doing. But my head was glued to the tail fin, too.

The other ship seems to be stopping in the debris field. It may be retrieving objects to help identify the intruder.

Debris field…

My throat about closed up and the corners of my eyes stung again.

I bit it back, blinking away the heat in my eyes.

There’d be time later to think on it. But now I had to survive long enough to help Chris and Liz.

This vessel is preparing to dock with the cloaked station. We will be receiving valuable intelligence about Tann facilities.

You keep it to yourself, you hear? No tattling to the Don.

Due to reprogramming, I am no longer to communicate with Don.

That was a good thing.

Though I sensed disappointment from the armor. Like me, it probably still pined for home.

The 360 view in my helmet caught a point of light ahead. A point which rapidly became a circle of light. A circle hanging in the emptiness of space above the Tann world below.

I zoomed the image in. Sucked in an astonished breath when I saw metal railings and supports inside the circle.

The Tann have found a way to create openings in cloaking shields. That would be very valuable for weapons emplacements on battlecruisers.

Yeah, a bit like duck blinds. A nice, hidden place from which to shoot the hell out of stuff.

Yes. An excellent position.

The armor and I didn’t agree on a lot. Like fairness.

Fair is what the losers cry about as they are crushed beneath the victor’s boot.

The Don were nothing if not consistent. All the way down to their A.I.s.

As we approached what looked like a literal hole in space, I noticed the hole wasn’t completely round. There were three narrow extensions of it. Slots I figured corresponded exactly to the three fins on the ships.

The openings didn’t look at that wide.

I have calculated the opening. There is a very small margin. The Tann are