Ancient Relics (THE RIM CONFEDERACY Book 4) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  The RIM Confederacy

  A Message to you from the Author

  Prologue

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  Epilogue

  Hospital Ship Prologue

  Reviews

  BOOK FOUR OF THE

  RIM CONFEDERACY

  Ancient Relics

  by Jim Rudnick

  This is purely a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This book may not be re-sold or given away without permission in writing from the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, copied, or distributed in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means past, present or future.

  Cover art by Lasse Perälä

  ISBN-13: 978-1-988144-01-6

  Copyright © 2015

  Jim Rudnick

  All rights reserved.

  For my Susan…

  The RIM Confederacy: Ancient Relics

  "Taking on a new Captaincy with the Barony means that our Captain Scott can now live a life of ease. His drinking will be tolerated, his hangovers ignored and he will be in charge of the newest fastest Supra Destroyer in the RIM Confederacy.

  Life is good for Tanner who enjoys his new ship and the favors of the Lady St. August yet the PTSD he still suffers from the thwarted prison escape on Halberd still haunts him. He copes but needs support from loyal friends and that keeps him going.

  Except he soon learns that the simple task of doing his shakedown cruise on the BN Atlas means that he inadvertently finds a discovery that will shake the very foundations of science all across the galaxy…"

  A Message to you from the Author…

  I just wanted to say thanks so so much for reading my first Book Four of the RIM Confederacy!

  As my Amazon bio says, being a youngster in the 1950's meant that I was a voracious reader in what has been called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. That meant that for me, my heroes were not on the hockey rink or gridiron - but instead in my local Library where at 12 I had a full Adult card (thanks Dad!) and took out more than 5 books a week.

  Everyone from Heinlein, Norton, Leiber, Pohl, Anderson, Simak, Asimov, Brackett, Gunn, Van Vogt and more....I fell in love with and eventually owned Ace Doubles of my own. And while I never knew who wrote the Tom Corbett - Space Cadet series, I fell in love with them and they had a place of honor on my own bookcase too!

  With that kind of an introduction to Science Fiction, it's no wonder that when I got my writing work done, I turned my own fictional side of my brain to writing same. It's one thing I know how to write - and a totally different matter to release same to the world - something that I've just started to work on....

  Suffice it to say my own works are rooted in that Golden Age and it's that era that I'd like to one day be known as a teensy contributor to in some small way...

  So once again, thanks for beginning my RIM Confederacy series and wait'll you learn about the alcoholic spaceship captain that is my hero, who fights and beats aliens but not the bottle!

  Enjoy and remember, in a series, characters develop and mature not the way we sometimes want…instead, it's like they have a life of their own!

  And while you can read the series in any order, I'd highly recommend to start with Pirates, then Sleeper Ship, Prison Planet and then Ancient Relics!

  Prologue ~

  The animal moved slowly along the marshy ground, its snout following the scent of its prey but only barely. With its wet squishy steps as its six legs slowly stepped on the fen, it made more noise as it hunted but that couldn't be helped here on Ghayth.

  The planet itself was wet, foggy, misty, and uninhabited by any kind of sentient being, and all the creatures that made the planet home lived a wet life.

  It was thought there were large oceans with many continents covering the planet, but more than that was unknown, as the planet had not been explored in a few hundred years. It had never had a colony on it either as the climate was a constant wet one. It rained more than ninety percent of the time. There was a lack of seasonal changes too, as the planet was not off polar axis so it was offsetting to anyone who orbited the planet and took scans.

  While the planet being uninhabited meant something to many explorers who might be looking for a new home or assets to take, this gray planet was just too much of a raw climate hence its name, which was not official but used by many to refer to the single fact it was not worth the shuttle trip down. On all star maps, the planet had no name at all. It was simply named Number Four around its huge blue star on the map.

  It had sat as such for thousands of years and remained an empty planet.

  Sniffing a side scent, the animal stopped and looked to the left then the right.

  As usual on Ghayth, visibility was reduced to less than fifty yards, and the scent was one of the animals usual meals, but it could not locate the spoor along the ground. Being less than three feet tall at the shoulder meant the hunter was unable to do more than raise its head up as high as it could. The scent seemed a bit closer up there, but it couldn't see anything but foggy mist. It moved along a few feet and then sniffed the ground. It couldn't find its original quarry, but that higher scent was just a bit stronger to the right, so it veered slightly to that side.

  Ahead about twenty feet, there was a largish dark shadow, the third he'd passed, where the oddly shaped foliage of a large overgrown plant was above the ground. The hunter moved slowly toward that darkness pausing to sniff every few feet. That aboveground smell was a bit stronger every few feet, and the hunter slowed his approach and tried to step more quietly.

  Three loud BEEPS echoed and the hunter jumped in fear as the sound was unknown to it. Crouching, his four forearms all digging into the marshy ground, its back arched as its two rear legs readied to jump, or spin and run. The hunter's lips curled up from its teeth and fangs as it reacted to the noise and the suddenly darker light.

  Above it but still a few feet away, that overgrown plant slowly sank in place quietly with no noise except for the rustle of the vegetation that hung from its full foliage above. It was a measured lowering of the plant in its entirety, and it touched the ground.

  The hunter was long gone, and only minutes later, the plant rose again to take the same position it had held in the past for the next hundred years and the empty natural world around it went on…

  CHAPTER ONE

  As he left the mess hall, the lunch he had just finished sat heavy in his gut, and Tanner squirmed a bit to his left and then his right trying to make the Garnuthian pulled pork sandwich find a better spot to sit. He was unsuccessful and that was a minor inconvenience as today he was to meet with his new employer, the Baroness St. August. And that scared him—enough that he hadn't even had one beer with lunch. That scared him too, as alcohol was usually a steadying influence on his life until today, maybe.

  He walked with purpose but not quickly as the past three days on Neres, the capital planet of the Barony, he had been trying to simply fit in. He had found quarters with help from that steward on the Sterling. He'd found the officers’ gym and had taken out a full membership. He had eaten some meals, like the lunch he'd just finished off, on the n
aval base at local restaurants and cafés. He had gone on evening walks to try to ease his early morning runs along city streets and across the huge park he'd found almost empty every day.

  Neres City was for him a fresh start. And that he felt he both needed and could use.

  As he passed a weapons shop, he stopped to look into the windows, which had a blue force field tint to them. On the other side lay arms he both knew and didn't know. Needlers—small ones like the ones he'd just faced on Halberd—were all the rage and came in several colors. There were stunners that looked like a hand weapon, and some were disguised as a plas-cup that you'd use for coffee. He wondered why anyone might want to stun someone they were having a social coffee with, but he shrugged as he realized life had all types. Against the far side of the display were rifles, carbines, and some of the coolest looking alien arms he'd ever seen. Some he had no idea about—but those projectile staffs that came from Duos were an unknown and he'd need to ask about them at the Barony Armory later. Weapons were available for anyone who wanted one. He believed as the rest of the RIM did, that being armed meant you were safe. At least that was the common thread of liberalism out here, and he smiled and went on. He refused to look at the left-hand side display of the Merkels, as the last time he'd seen one, he'd had to kill the woman who was wielding it. He gulped and his left temple throbbed with a stabbing pain, but he shook his head sharply trying to purge the PTSD symptoms.

  No weapons. He slapped his side, I'm unarmed right now too—a good thing.

  At least I remembered not to go to the Palace armed like last time. The Palace AI was strong juju and it was matched by the Baroness herself.

  He made good time and appeared at the access gate to the Palace grounds a full half hour ahead of his assigned meeting time. He straightened out his tunic as he came to attention in front of the Palace guard who stood in his way. Not a real uniform yet, he thought, but soon it would be.

  The Palace guard cocked his head to one side.

  "You're the new captain, right?" he said.

  Before Tanner could even answer, the guard grabbed his hand and gave it a good shaking.

  "Sir … Captain Scott, I mean, welcome, Sir. We are so, so pleased that the troubles over on Halberd were well, fixed by you, Sir. Our Lady was safe and secure with your aid … and great shooting too, Sir," he said and the hand pumping went on for a moment more.

  Straightening up, the guard snapped a quick salute and leaned on the button that popped up the gate. Tanner walked right onto the grounds.

  "Sir, would you like directions? I can beam them directly to your wrist PDA, Sir?" he asked and nodded as Tanner said a simple yes in reply.

  Tanner moved off the roadway as a personnel carrier went by with a squad of EliteGuards all in a row and cut across a huge expanse of grass with a diamond-like pattern cut in it. He smiled at a couple of people he thought might be Royals, half-dipped his head in an answering bow, and kept making his way to the large portico ahead of him. Carved from a rose-colored marble, most likely from the planet Turljis, he thought. From the way it soared and arched, he grinned at the thought it had probably cost as much as a shuttle craft.

  He smiled to himself as he did not hear the Palace security AI chime to indicate he was armed, which he was not.

  Entering the large triple-wide doorway, his boots rung on the tiled floor, and he was passed through room after room, down hallway after hallway, until he was in a room he'd been in before.

  At the center of the room was once again the biggest vase he'd ever seen, sitting on top of a single slice of the bole of a tree that must have been twenty feet across. Ahead down the hallway, he walked for more than a full minute until he was in the audience room—the official one used, he suspected, for the Baroness’s official audiences—maybe that would be now.

  As he entered the butter-brown carpeted room, his footsteps were silent, but down at the far side on the right, an EliteGuard stood on picket duty at a doorway.

  Can't actually see the doorway, Tanner thought as he remembered many of them were hidden by fancy wall treatments, moldings, and sconces. He presented himself to the EliteGuard who nodded and opened the door, but Tanner somehow missed what he did.

  Walking through the door, he saw a love seat that looked like it was covered with Jael hide and matching footstools with blue piping and layers of blue tanned Jael skins. No fire this time, he thought as he marched right over to the only person in the room, his Baroness.

  From what he could see, as much of her lap was covered by some kind of a pet cat, she wore a dark blue dress that had crystals intertwined along its vertical seams. Heels—high heels of the brightest pink he'd ever seen—were at the ends of her shapely legs, and while he noticed them, it was her hair that really had his attention. She had an up-swept do of some type that would have been right in style at an evening state dinner—but he wondered as to why it seemed to have some kind of a flashing glitter sprinkled over it in waves. And her face, he noted, was again very beautiful for a woman who had at least ten years on him.

  "Ma’am … Baroness St. August. Captain Scott reporting for duty, Ma’am," he said and this time he bowed to his waist and then saluted and snapped himself to attention.

  "Captain Scott. Yes, please have a seat. Let's keep this meeting informal, shall we?" she said. She toyed with the hair of the cat on her lap who chose that moment to stare at Tanner, then slowly rise, and move laterally away from her warm lap. It stretched and its back arched for a moment. The cat walked away from the Baroness but moved sideways, which Tanner found odd. Instead of walking as a cat normally did, this one stepped sideways, crossing one front foot in front of the other and then repeated the odd gait with its rear legs.

  He nodded to the pet and said, "That is an unusual walking gait, Ma’am."

  The Baroness nodded. "The cat—well, in fact, it's not really a cat at all—is from Throth, Captain, a planet that you are familiar with, but this creature is a jungle hunter that from what I've been told is very hard to catch, train, and domesticate. Hard for others …" she said, and the implication was plain that this was commonplace in the Palace.

  He nodded and gingerly took a seat on the facing love seat, but he slid back as a side door opened. A staff member approached with a cart that had the telltale clink and squeak of real glassware. Tanner saw an extra-large bottle of his favorite Black brand of Scotch too. His leg began twitching and he pushed down as hard as he could to try to stave off the shaking.

  The Baroness waved the woman away and rose but gestured for Tanner to remain seated. She poured a drink for herself and then a couple inches of Scotch into a beautiful old-fashioned glass for him. She took the few steps to place it on the table between them, sat down, and got settled again as the jungle cat lowered its lifted head and went back to sleep.

  "Well, let's get down to it, shall we? You're the newest captain in our Barony Navy. Your ship will arrive with the training experts in what, about twenty days or so. ‘Til then, I will ask you to familiarize yourself with the Barony. Galipedia, perhaps, to start. With our customs and our culture. With our institutions and our people. We are a wondrous realm, and if you're going to be a part of it—if you will one day be a leader in our Navy, then you must get up to speed quickly, Captain. But I'm sure you have questions?" she said and sipped her drink.

  "Oh, before I forget, as a Barony captain, you will, of course, have a seat on the Barony Navy Council of Captains—unlike other Navies, we do not have an admiral-based system. You captains, with my help, of course, run the show. We meet once monthly and you'll be apprised of the schedule too," she said and nodded to him.

  Tanner took a moment to pick up that beautiful glass and roll the amber-colored Scotch around the glass to release some of its bouquet. He tilted it up to his nose to inhale the breath of the alcohol called the water of life and smiled at her. The shaking stopped.

  "Ma’am, I have millions of questions, but the most important one is—why me? What would make the Lady acting u
nder your orders make me the offer of a lifetime for any Navy man?" he said, his voice calm. The question between them was the crux of the matter, he thought.

  She nodded, sipped her drink one more time, and then leaned forward to set the glass down on the table.

  "Captain, I am a Royal. But as you and the rest of the RIM know, I was not born to this status. I fought to get here, and I intend to keep on fighting to go higher."

  She paused for a moment and her blue eyes stared directly into his eyes.

  "I want to be the new vice chair of the RIM Council. And the planet from which Gracie, my jungle cat comes from—Throth, means that the Barony now has ten planets, and we will go past the Caliphate. I will one day rule the RIM Council as I grow the Barony, and your job will be to captain my newest Supra destroyer—the name of which by the way will be the BN Atlas—to help in any and all ways that you can. Understand, Captain?" she finished off and reached for her drink.

  Tanner nodded. He had suspected as much and had just had it confirmed. The Baroness wanted power … as much as she could find or make.

  "And as we both know, Captain, you have superior battle skills; you have great and loyal crew relationships in your past. But most of all, you want what I want, but mine is a chair on Juno, and yours is the captain’s chair on the newest and most formidable ship on the RIM."

  He nodded, as there was little else he could add. His leg fluttered but there were no more spasms.

  "One warning though, Captain. My stepdaughter, Helena. She has a … a reluctance to accept that I am the Baroness—even through marriage, the crown passed to me. One day, she will have it, of course, but until then, I would remind you to be always cautious of her and her intents. Do you know that had the attack on Halberd not happened, she was going to invoke some kind of ancient RIM Confederacy statute and marry that Nusayr al-Rashid criminal? She even had some kind of professor expert there to be her authority on the law she was going to invoke."