Rise of the Altered Moon: Altered Moon Series: Book One (The Altered Moon Series 1) (30 page)

“Cal, give me a hand getting her to her quarters, will you?” Cat asked as she supported Katy’s weight.

“Yes, of course.” Cal moved in to pick Katy up and follow Cat.

“You don’t think they’ll…” Cat didn’t want to finish the question.

“Kill us? No…” said Boss. “Imprison us…?” he finished with a shrug.

Boss and Gina came together in a deeply exhausted hug. “What do you think’s going to happen to the captain?” Gina asked.

“I don’t know, G,” Boss told her. “I truly don’t know.”

Katy had calmed down by the next day and managed to repair some of the battle damage just to keep busy. Two more days passed before they got any sign that things had progressed. The two Blood Star ships powered up their systems and prepared to get underway. Commander Varrin’s ship, the
Scythe
, pulled ahead slowly on an odd course that took the ship out directly in front of the
Altered Moon’
s position. The dorsal running light pulsed on and off at different intervals.

“Boss, I believe we are receiving a visual message from the
Scythe
,” GABI reported.

“Explain.”

“A coded sequence of light pulses with a message that repeats, ‘Be patient,’” GABI answered.

“Maybe things aren’t working out so bad,” Boss said hopefully.

“Well, they could at least let us know!” Gina steamed.

The Blood Star ships engaged their main drives and sped off to where they could safely engage their updated String Field Drive jump engines and return to Arzian space.

Another day had passed by before the ring of frigates finally broke their blockade and moved off. A large ship loomed in front of them with a framework that began to expand as it approached the
Altered Moon
.

“
Altered Moon
, prepare for space dock,” the large ship hailed them. “Power down all non-critical systems and stand by for external power supply.”

Boss tried to reply but there was no response. The mobile space dock just moved in and did its work.

They were informed after three days of repair that the engineering bay was secured and ready for operations. Just in time too. If Katy had to sit around and twiddle her thumbs any longer, she was going to fly over to the Emperor’s ship in an EV suit and demand to know what the hell was going on.

Where the hell is CJ?
Be patient, my ass!
At least now she could get in to engineering and look over the repairs that had been done.
If I can’t tinker with my man, then may as well tinker with the ship
, she thought with only the tiniest happiness. A flash of guilt ran through her as she still didn’t know what had happened to CJ. The others were concerned too, but to them he was a friend as well as the captain. To Katy, he was so much more. The inspection of the repairs left Katy in awe of the speed and quality of the Imperial engineers. The major and minor repairs were done, the engine compartment was clean and shiny, and the ship was flight ready.

Katy was finished with her critique of the Imperial repair quality and headed up to the bridge. She met Boss and Gina in the squad bay as they were just coming to find her. The smile on Boss’ face and the excitement in Gina’s eye told Katy all she needed to know. She trembled as she made her way to the airlock. CJ opened the hatch of the Imperial courier and Katy, unable to contain herself, flung open the hatch of the
Altered Moon
and met him halfway through the docking collar.

The Imperial guards shut and sealed the hatch of their ship, which told the two lovebirds that they should board their own ship, posthaste. CJ and Katy climbed through the airlock hatch and back aboard the
Altered Moon
. The entire crew had gathered by then and welcomed their captain home with overwhelming enthusiasm, great relief, and many, many questions.

*~*~*

Epilog

The
Altered Moon
had passed the preflight engine tests. Hull inspections showed integrity was at one hundred percent. The ship was cleared for flight operations by: Captain CJ Evermore, Science Officer Boss Keltzer, Star Pilot Gina Riley, and most importantly by the ship’s Chief Engineer Katy Latimer. Together with Operations Officer GABI, Chief Medical Officer Zhu Katzu, and Tactical Officer Warren Caltrop, the
Altered Moon
stood ready for whatever the galaxy had in store for them.

The crew manned their stations on the morning that the Imperial Marlacuer Emperor Zartharian the Omnipotent was scheduled to return to Marlacuer. There was no grand farewell, no thanks for all they’d done for the good of the Empire, not even a last good-bye message. Crissi had called the night before to talk to the crew. She passed on congratulations from Nelson and the staff of Cantankerous Base and the message that CJ and the crew was always welcome there.

Crissi was to accompany Zartharian the Omnipotent to become the interim Keect’na ambassador to the Marlacuer Empire. Nelson had come out of hiding and was on his way with the Arzian ambassador to meet with the Imperial Council as well. Humans were no longer alone in the galaxy, and there would be both acceptance and resistance to that fact. MT&T personnel had been replaced from the top down and many of them sat in Imperial prisons, never again to taste the sweetness of freedom.

Imperial Travel & Transport was born as the Empire confiscated all Merilee assets and took over control of the company. The Marlacuer royal family had another monopoly to add to the Imperial pile of money and power. New frontiers were established to be manned by the Imperial Star Guard against the possibility of further hostile incursion by the Kang.

The release of CJ and the rest of the crew was contingent upon the complete disclosure of any and all dark matter technology and advanced system-to-system quantum jump calculations. The stealthy abilities of the
Altered Moon
were known to the Black Sash now, but because of the actions of CJ and the crew, the Emperor declared that the ship was to remain under the command of Crucible Johannson Evermore. As long as the Empire received full credit in the media for uncovering MT&T’s plot with the Kang, then any reports on the unique capabilities of the
Altered Moon
would be temporarily misplaced by the Black Sash Tribunal.

There was a tense moment when GABI was to be dismantled due to the danger that an uncontrolled artificial intelligence could represent to Humankind, but an unlikely ally came to her rescue. GABI’s stalwart loyalty to her captain, crew, and ship touched the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Caliaan, so deeply that she would not allow her father or anyone else to harm GABI. What loving father can say no to his daughter, princess or not? CJ, the crew, and the
Altered Moon
were cleared of any wrongdoing and were freed to go where they may.

Nelson Moon and the Arzian ambassador met with Imperial Council and opened a dialog that began military step-downs along the no-fly zone. A de-escalation of armed forces with the Arzian Alliance was an historical event and word of it spread through the galaxy just a little slower than that of an alien species being discovered and the betrayal of the Human race by MT&T. A time of great discovery and excitement was ahead for Humans, but as always, there were those who feared change and wanted to keep power by intimidation and oppression. Things wouldn’t change that easily.

CJ and the bridge crew watched the Imperial flotilla move away, which left them with the slight feeling of being used and then thrown aside. But thrown aside or not, they had their ship and all crewmembers were aboard. The space around them was once again dark and quiet, just the way the crew of a ship like the
Altered Moon
wanted it.

“Where to, Captain?” Star Pilot Gina Riley asked.

CJ looked at the view screen and smiled. “Second star to the right and straight on ‘til dawn.”

*~*~*~*~*~*

Commander Kendra Varrin sat at her desk in her quarters onboard the
Scythe
. The jacket of her uniform was open and hung loosely as she leaned forward to study the open files on her datpad. She absently sipped at the Arzian brandy that filled a small tumbler glass halfway. She didn’t feel the gratitude that she supposed she should at being ‘allowed’ to go on her way by the Marlacuer Imperial Guard. Instead she stung from being detained in the first place and from missing out on a very large fortune to boot.

Evermore and his band of do-gooders
, she thought sourly to herself as she sipped at her brandy. The file on her datpad showed an old image of the Council Members of the Union of Allied Worlds; behind them stood the statuettes and the Grand Seal of the Union. The same items CJ and the crew found on Arzia Octonus and returned to the Arzian people. She steamed at the turnout of what was supposed to be the biggest score of her career with the Blood Stars. Instead she was run off by what she thought was an Arzian Alliance strike force and her great treasure stolen out from under her by the crew of the
Altered Moon
.

Varrin closed the file on the Arzian artifacts now that they were well out of reach and back in the hands of the Arzian people. The file on the datpad slid away to leave the next file open on the screen. An image of CJ Evermore and his crew in front of the
Altered Moon
was there, taken by one of the Blood Star spies on Cantankerous Base.

The many possibilities that opened up after the recent events ran through the Blood Star commander’s head.
The Kang aren’t gone by any means
, she thought.
They got their asses handed to them by the Imperial guard, that’s for sure, but they’ll be back, she continued to think. What then?
She sipped again at the brandy in her glass as she thought about the cease-fire between the Marlacuers and the Arzians fostered by Nelson Moon and the Keect’na. A cease-fire that just might open up new territories from which the Blood Stars could ‘collect’ necessary resources.

Another sip of brandy.
Yes, many possibilities indeed.
The opening of the border meant increased commercial traffic and maybe, after a while, a decrease in military traffic. It also meant that their shadowy little corner of space wouldn’t be so shadowy anymore. The Blood Stars, however, did not rise to glory by ‘giving in’ and more traffic meant more flies for the web…so much the better.

Another sip left behind a glass, now empty of the biting, dark maroon liquor. Kendra Varrin slid the glass across the polished surface of her desk, as she stood up, secured the jacket of her uniform, and closed the file on the datpad. The image of the
Altered Moon
and her crew was sucked into a corner of the screen and disappeared.

“Our paths will cross again, CJ Evermore,” she said, as the image closed and she headed for the bridge of the
Scythe
. “Count on it.”

***The End***

What was that? Ah...no, don’t think so…the adventures of CJ and the crew continue in book two of the
Altered Moon
Series:

Curse of the Altered Moon

-CUL8R-

Acknowledgements

The writing of a story, for the most part, is a solitary work for the author alone. The development of a novel, on the other hand, might require a small crowd to achieve. I am both lucky and grateful to have such a wonderful crowd of supporters not only for
Rise of the Altered Moon
project, but the works of AZ Kelvin in general.

My deepest gratitude to you all for your support!

The AZ Kelvin All-Stars

Sunny Lee

CJ Lee

Evelyn & Bill Lee

Matt Metzler

Brandy Lowrey

Amy Evans-Stahl

The story and the book containing it, both require several different aspects come together in order to produce a well-designed and well-written novel. Rise of the Altered Moon exists today because of the skills and creativity of the people involved with the project. Thanks to everyone!

Lee Companies, LLC.

Lee Companies, LLC did a terrific job with publishing Rise of the Altered Moon. The Lee team checked the storyline for consistency and designed both the interior content and the cover illustrations.

C.J. Lee – Interior and exterior design, cover illustrator.

Sunny Lee – Story wrangler and creative consultant.

Nikki Busch Editing

Nikki Busch Editing took on the job of editing
Rise of the Altered Moon
and it was a monster, but Nikki tamed the beast with grace and skill. She was an absolute pleasure to work with.
Thank  you
Nikki Busch!

Find her at
www.nikkibuschediting.com

And Thank You!

Thank you reader, for your support as well, through your purchase of the book. I appreciate your support and I hope you enjoyed the story.

Look for more on the Altered Moon Series, along with other stories like The Druids of Arden and Here We Ghost, at:
www.azkelvin.com

Cheers! – AZ Kelvin