Pegasus Colony (People of Akiane: A Colonization Science Fiction Novel Book 1) Read online

  People of Akiane Book One

  Pegasus Colony

  Phyllis Moore

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Copyright 2014 by Phyllis Moore

  Library of Congress Control Number 2014917877

  Moore, Phyllis

  Pegasus Colony / by Phyllis Moore — 1st U.S. ed.

  Summary: After 300 years of nonattendance, Lieutenant Jessica M. Hewitt is ordered to establish relations with Earth’s first galactic colony and convince the people they are still an Earth colony.

  ISBN 978-0-9907091-1-4 eBooks

  1. Science Fiction — Fiction. 2. Soft Science Fiction — Fiction.

  4. Pegasus Colony — Fiction.

  First published in U.S.A. 2014

  Typeset by Cheryl Barr

  Myth Rider Publishers

  MythRiderPublishers.com

  [email protected]

  Cover design from IStock

  Font cover design by Ethereal Eakain

  Acknowledgments

  It is said that writing is a lonely profession. That is somewhat true. There are many lonely hours of writing and rewriting, but without the help of friends, family, fellow authors, and professional help, books would never come into existence.

  I’m not going to give every name that has had an influence on the writing of Pegasus Colony, but I will name those close to the end who encourage me not to give up.

  Coworkers: Andy Dreissig, Bill Codere, and Justin Campbell

  Fellow authors: Cassandra Amesley, Ronald Peterson and John Palmer

  Special thanks to North Star Press of St. Cloud, MN. Without their encouragement my manuscript might never have been completed.

  And Patricia Morris who worked with me on the last rewrite of my manuscript. She edited the story and helped smoothed out the rough edges.

  Thanks to all,

  Phyllis Moore

  CAPTAIN’S LOG

  WSC EAGLE

  Captain Richard Fontner

  Year 2144, November 1

  Folded space is a success. It only took twelve years to travel twenty-seven light-years to the planet Akiane within the Pegasus Constellation.

  The star of this system shines bright. Five planets orbit it, including our destination planet, Akiane.

  We have been in orbit around Akiane for nine days, running tests and sending out probes.

  One probe orbits this system’s star and has been recording the star’s activity. The solar flares are amazing. We have witnessed some astonishing coronal mass ejections, larger than anything Earth’s sun can produce, but then it is also larger than our Sun. Eruptions from the huge star have set off a series of plasma waves 25 million meters in height, traveling millions of kilometers across the physical surface of the star.

  Specific details are in the science officer’s logs.

  One probe orbits the planet Akiane. Several were sent to the surface of the planet to gather information about soil, snow, ice, and open ocean water. Except for the equator and areas around active volcanoes, some of which are near water, the oceans are covered with ice.

  The planet was quiet when we first arrived, but now as a giant gas planet approaches, many volcanoes are suddenly active.

  We continually attempt to stream data back to World Space Coalition, but the communications officers say the enormous sun flares are interfering with our transmissions. The magnetic charge is too high for our transmissions to get through to WSC.

  Science can cure the common cold, but not override electrical interference of plasma flares. We may have to retransmit everything again after the star has quieted.

  Akiane and one gas planet the size of Saturn orbit their star elliptically. Every eleven years their orbits cross. We have arrived in time to study the phenomenon. Those back at WSC will be delighted with this new data.

  Captain Fontner’s Office

  The captain’s office door unceremoniously flew open.

  “Captain!” the first mate called.

  “Computer, stop and close.” The holographic computer screen disappeared. “Yes, Commander?”

  “We’ve lost control.” The commander’s usual calm demeanor had crumbled. She slouched in the doorway. Worry lines etched her young face. Her hands trembled.

  The captain tensed. “Lost control of what?” he asked.

  “All of it, Sir.” Her voice shook. “Everything. We’ve lost the ship.”

  Captain Fontner stared at her. “How is that possible?” he asked weakly.

  “I …” Before she could answer, the ship swayed.

  Like an old eighteenth century windjammer, the Eagle gently creaked and groaned.

  The commander looked up and around for the source of the noise. “A space ship doesn’t make those kinds of noises,” she said. Tears of fear rolled down her cheeks.

  “Commander, control yourself,” the captain said.

  The creaks and groans became louder.

  She was right. Something was wrong; whatever was happening, it wasn’t normal. Captain Fontner’s head pounded with anxiety. He thought of his family, his wife and children were on board.

  He should be with them right now to calm their fears, but the ship and crew came first. They always did.

  The ship tilted.

  The first mate lost her footing and disappeared behind the wall. Captain Fontner gripped the armrests of his chair.

  The ship tilted in the opposite direction. The commander slid past the doorway.

  Eagle seemed to twist in awkward angles then dropped several meters.

  It happened so fast and with such force, Fontner lost his grip.

  He hit the ceiling. When Eagle righted herself, Fontner dropped belly first onto his desk with a “Humph.”

  He first heard the impenetrable glass in the bridge observatory window crack. Then the window in his office did the same.

  His thoughts retuned his wife and children. He would not get to say good-bye. He could not save his ship and he could not say good-bye.

  In the next instant, everything flipped upside down.

  Screams came from the bridge as people were tossed about like rag dolls.

  The captain’s shoulder dislocated as he slammed back into the ceiling. Eagle tilted to one side. Fontner slid toward the window in his office. Bits of glass disappeared as they were sucked out. Oxygen whistled as it escaped into space.

  The window twisted. He knew it was illogical, but Fontner felt his blood start to boil as the vacuum of space invaded his office.

  He was not with his family or his crew. It was just him and his ship. And she was failing his.

  WSC Eagle exploded.

  Chapter 1

  Lieutenant Jessica Hewitt

  The New Assignment

  THREE HUNDRED sixteen years after Falcon, Eagle and Hawklaunched begin Earth’s first galactic settlement the Pegasus Colony, the year was 2447.

  I was never supposed to set foot on Akiane, nor did I want to. I mean, why would I? It was an ice planet, so cold that in winter a thick sheet of ice covered the salty ocean.

  I’m not sure why I joined the space program, moved to World Space Coalition’s moon base or why I volunteered for the Akiane Project.

  World Space Coalition was a partnership of nations that combined their financial resources and their scientists to explore and study space, and establish off-world colonies.


  WSC built its headquarters on Earth’s moon so no one country could lay claim to it. After they colonized Mars and Europa, they wanted to expand beyond Earth’s solar system. The first galactic colony was to be in the Pegasus Constellation on the planet Akiane.

  The colonists were to land and establish the colony in the year 2144, but WSC lost contact with the colony. After repeated tries, it was thought everyone had died and because WSC didn’t want to risk any more lives, the project was abandoned.

  A little over 297 years later, in the year 2429, it was discovered that not only had the colonists survived, they were thriving.

  WSC was excited to reclaim its colony and provide any assistance needed. It took three years to prepare WSC Britannia and her crew for the journey.

  I wanted to escape my life on Earth. I wanted to get away from overbearing media and my dad’s obsessive fans.

  With all the excitement of reestablishing Earth’s first galactic colony, I thought I’d be lost in the shuffle. And I was. . .at first. Now I realized, if I wanted to remain anonymous, I should have stayed on the base.

  What I wanted was a hole to crawl into and to be forgotten so I could forget my life, forget me, forget what happened to Dad.

  I signed on to the mission to get even farther away from everything — Earth, family, myself. Six years, five months to reach Akiane, seven days layover, then six years, five months for the return trip. By the time I returned to Earth, everything would be different. I’d start my life over and this time, I’d get it right.

  Somehow I became the focus of media attention throughout the entire world and three WSC colonies. My name would be firmly set in history. I’m still not sure how it happened.

  At the time, I was Ensign Jessica M. Hewitt, Communications Tech. My assignment was to sit at the radio in Command Center on the Transport Ship WSC Britannia and wait for messages from World Space Coalition, which I would relay to Captain Norris. I’d then relay his reply back. In fiction, working in command is exciting; in reality, it’s brain numbing.

  My other job was to listen for space anomalies. Space is silent. No, not silent; it’s dead. My job was to listen in case there was something out there, in case something happened.

  Nothing happened. Ever.

  When something did happen it changed everything.

  While at my station, in 2448, August 27, I received the first of five messages from the colony on Akiane.

  The first message read:

  We have no need of your presence. We are not your colony.

  Captain Norris apologized, but his return message stated, We are already on ourway. His orders did not allow him to turn around and return to Moon Base.

  Each message over the next two years was increasingly more forceful in its demands that we turn back, which made Captain Norris all the more determined to continue on.

  Then the messages stopped. I thought the colony had resigned itself to our coming.

  Exactly four years, eight months, one day, and fifteen hours after leaving Moon Base, Captain Norris called me into his office. He sat straight-backed, with his forearms resting on the desk. He didn’t look happy.

  I could think of nothing I’d done wrong that would have so soured his mood.

  “What did you say to those people on Akiane?” His voice was calm, but challenging. He stared at me over his hawk-like nose.

  I had no idea what he was talking about. “Excuse me, Sir?”

  He didn’t offer me a chair or say, “At ease.” I stood, arms at my side, feet together, and head held high, looking straight ahead at the blank wall behind him.

  “You received several communications from the colony on Akiane. Is that correct?” he asked.

  “Yes, Sir, I did. Five messages in all, Sir,” I said still not sure where he was headed.

  “With whom did you communicate?” He was obviously irritated. Clearly, I had done something wrong.

  “I don’t know, Sir. They sent text. I spoke to no one, Sir.”

  “You must have spoken to someone, Ensign. Made a friend with someone,” he insisted.

  “Friend, Sir? I don’t understand. Did I offend someone, Sir?”

  He rose and rested his hands on the desk so his face was directly in my line of sight. His stormy gray eyes locked onto mine. “If you were unhappy at your post, you should have come to me instead of trying to go over my head, Ensign.” He said each word clearly and distinctly.

  I couldn’t ask him directly what the problem was. There were rules and a pecking order, and at that moment, I was the one being pecked. I held my tongue and waited for him to get to the point.

  “Someone from Akiane has requested you. By name.”

  I blinked. What? “Me, Sir?” I gulped. “I can’t imagine why, Sir.”

  His hairy brows furled. “I have relayed all messages from the colony and the request for your presence to WSC. They have made their decision.” He paused.

  “But I never received such a message.” If I had, I would have refused the request.

  “Some one spoke to the on-duty tech while you were off duty.” He made it sound like I was to blame. He straightened to his full height, while he glared.

  “Sir?” I weakly asked.

  “Seems someone on Akiane likes you.”

  “Sir?” I could think of nothing else to say.

  “They want a negotiator. You’ve been requested by name. WSC has agreed.”

  “Negotiator? Me? Negotiate what?” I was so surprised, I forgot myself. I relaxed my stance.

  He glared.

  I snapped to attention.

  “Sir,” I finished.

  He continued. “Since you’ve read most of the communications from Akiane, you are already aware that the colonists don’t want us on their little planet,” Captain Norris stated. “They insist the planet belongs to them.” He snorted as if their feelings were not a consideration. “World Space Coalition claims all natural resources and scientific finds, as well as the planet and the inhabitants, as its property. WSC did, after all, plan the project, train the crew, and pay for the original expedition, as well as this one.”

  He focused his full attention on me as though I’d created the problem entirely by myself. “The colonists will no longer discuss it with me. I’ve tried. I opened a com-link so I could speak directly to their leader instead of texting back and forth. I thought we were making head way.” He paused.“But he spoke to your communications counter part and it seems they want you to negotiate a dialogue.”

  What? Open a dialogue? I barely knew how to carry on a normal conversation.

  “Once you’re on Akiane, you’ll have seven Earth-Standard days, the length of our layover, to accomplish your mission,” he barked.

  What mission? I wanted to scream.

  “Your mission is to convince the colonists that they are a WSC colony,” he said as if he heard my thoughts.

  “And if I don’t finish in the allotted time, Sir?”

  “Then you will stay on Akiane until you do complete your mission, and only then will you return on the next transport.”

  “But, Sir, the next transport is two years behind us!” I didn’t want to stay on Akiane for two whole years.

  “Correct!” he replied with a little too much enthusiasm. “So don’t fail.”

  Captain Norris shifted his stance.

  “You’ve been promoted. Pack your things. You will spend the rest of the trip living with the civilians. They will help you with your studies of Akiane, so you will be properly prepared when you arrive.”

  “Sir?” I was confused. I couldn’t think clearly.

  “Your station on the bridge has been assigned to another,” he said.

  He was exiling me.

  I’d done nothing wrong. “Sir, permission to speak.”

  “No.”

  I couldn’t even defend myself.

  He sat down and leaned back in his chair, placed one hand on the armrest and the other on his knee. “There is one good thing to come
from all of this.”

  Good? I wanted to yell at him, What possible good? Instead I said, “Sir?”

  “You’ll be famous. Every person on Earth will know your name.”

  My knees turned to jelly. I thought they’d give out. I became light-headed. I almost lost my balance.

  My father was a well-known, and well-loved, author. His death was headline news, which brought my life, alongside his, into intense media interest. Practically everywhere I went, someone either took my photograph or asked questions about me and Dad. Okay, so not the entire world was interested, just his fans. It’s just that there were so many of them.

  I hated it.

  My family was just as bad, five aunts and uncles, all married, thirty-five first cousins, all of which wanted to console me and felt they needed to repeatedly check in on me to see how I was dealing with Dad’s death. They drove me crazy.

  I joined Space Force mainly because the paparazzi and fans are not allowed on the moon, and family contact was limited. I hoped that the twelve years and ten months journey to and from another planet would be long enough for everyone to move on and forget about me.

  The captain’s words, “Every person on Earth will know your name,” vibrated in my head.

  I’d become Earth’s representative to their long-lost sisters and brothers on Akiane. Now the entire world would want to know everything about me. I would become a worldwide household name.

  So much for anonymity.

  “You’ll be responsible for the reunion of two worlds,” the captain continued.

  I lowered my head to look at him. “Why me, Sir? What if I fail?”

  He grimaced. “Then you will be responsible for WSC’s first galactic military takeover. The Akiane Project is an effort to rejoin two worlds. If those people are unwilling to accept their status as colonists, then they will be taken by force.”

  No pressure there.

  Like any other empire builder, WSC was not about to give up its colony. You’d think Earth’s history regarding imperialism would have taught the bureaucrats something. I guess not.