The Luna Deception (50 page)

“Eh?”

“The
Monster,”
repeated the guitarist. “That old cargo hauler in Docking Bay 14. That’s what we’d like. Oh, and the Superlifter that goes with it.”

“Of course! The ship that was stolen from you!”

“And its mothership,” the drummer clarified. “The
Monster.
If you—your Imperial Highness would be so kind.”

Prince Jian Er was silent for a moment. “Well, the military won’t like it. But to hell with
them.”

The microfamous and nanofamous hooted their approval.

“After all, I am a prince, and they’re only AIs! To hell with philosophical arguments. Your petition is granted! FRUG OOONNNN!”

★

The
Monster
fell gracefully away from Tiangong Erhao. At a safe distance from the space station, it accelerated. The tiny star of the
Monster’s
drive was joined within the instant by half a dozen others. Prince Jian Er had ordered the CDTF to escort the
Monster
safely out to the edge of the asteroid belt, whether the military AIs liked it or not. They didn’t, but had no choice. The very existence of the Chinese empire hinged on their obedience to the imperial family. Should they disobey Prince Jian Er’s orders, the whole dog-and-pony show would fall to pieces. Even an apathetic AI could see that.

During their voyage, Jun enjoyed an unspoken truce with his Chinese escorts. Abjuring theological and philosophical arguments, they passed the time playing games. Poker turned out to be a mutual favorite. Jun won a new cargo module off the
Luxiao Shan
, with built-in hydroponic tanks.

The humans passed the time in other ways.

Father Tom spent many pleasant hours in Jesuitical discussions with the ISA, who had sent a ship to stalk the convoy, trying to find out what could have produced this strange alliance.

Charles, the Brainrape guitarist, taught Kiyoshi how to play chords properly.

Junior Hasselblatter became a favorite with the Chinese, who found his destructive ways adorable.

Mendoza helped Father Tom to celebrate daily Masses, and studied to become a deacon. When he was not doing that, he practised his kendo katas and exercised fanatically so as not to lose muscle mass.

Lying tired on the mat after a tough session, he often thought of Elfrida. When they reached their destination, he was going to get her to come out and join them. The only reason he hadn’t done it yet was because he didn’t know where they were going. Kiyoshi had apologetically explained that the guy he worked for was paranoid about security. When they got there, all would be revealed. Mendoza had faith that it would be good.

He also recalled, with mixed feelings, the moment of their departure from Tiangong Erhao.

Derek Lorna had come flying up at the last instant. “Phew!” he had said to Mendoza, who was sitting in the
Monster’s
operations airlock, waiting for him. “Thought I wasn’t going to make it. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Mendoza had blocked the airlock with his body. “You aren’t coming with us. The Chinese are going to give you your own spaceship. A new ID. A new face, new fingerprints, even a new DNA record. Right?”

“So they say, but it’s bullshit. They’re never going to let me go. They’ll promise me the moon and work me to death. I know how they operate. You have to let me come with you!”

“Sorry. You’re staying here.”

And Mendoza had shut the airlock in Lorna’s face.

Last he saw, the man had been pootling disconsolately down the bay to the nearest penal colony ship, to ask for sanctuary.

Mendoza felt profoundly glad he hadn’t killed Lorna when he had the chance.
There might be hope for him yet. God forgives everything.

★

After the
Monster
parted from the CDTF, it cruised
on through the asteroid belt. The ISA ship stopped following them. Its captain now knew where the
Monster
was going, so his job was done.

It took them another four months to get there. The asteroid belt was no tightly packed ring of rock. The distances out here were vast, and they were going most of the way to Jupiter.

At last, they got close enough to the asteroid 99984 Ravilious to hold nearly-real-time radio conversations.

And Kiyoshi asked the question that had been bugging him all the way from Luna.

“Hey, Hasselblatter.”

He had given up calling the ex-Space Corps director Dr. Phony Dumbshit, but that was still his private opinion of the man. Dr. Hasselblatter had spent most of the journey complaining, leaving his son to be looked after by the Chinese.

“Where do you know the boss-man from, anyway?”

“What kind of question is that?” Dr. Hasselblatter said.

“A reasonable one. We had to hang around for months, waiting for you. He wouldn’t abandon you, even if it meant endangering our lives. I’d just like to know why you’re so important to him.”

“Because I know about the UN’s secret pact with the aliens who run the galaxy,” Dr. Hasselblatter said.

“O … kay.”

“I’m just messing with you. There are no aliens. I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“About me and the boss-man, as you call him. He’s my little brother.”

THE END

The Phobos Maneuver,
Book 5 in the Solarian War Saga, will be published in early 2016.

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Books by Felix R. Savage

The Solarian War Saga, in chronological order:

Crapkiller

The Elfrida Goto Trilogy

includes:

The Galapagos Incident

The Vesta Conspiracy

The Mercury Rebellion

A Very Merry Zero-Gravity Christmas
(short story, comes between
Vesta
and
Luna
in the timeline)

The Luna Deception

The Phobos Maneuver
(coming in early 2016)

First Contact, Inc.

Against The Rules

Payback

Stand-alone

Finity (A Story of Mars Exploration)

Mercy (A Fantasy Novella of Revenge)

… and more to come!

THE LUNA DECEPTION

THE SOLARIAN WAR SAGA, BOOK 4

Copyright © 2015 by Felix R. Savage

The right to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by Felix R. Savage. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author.

First published in the United States of America in 2015 by Knights Hill Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author.

Cover art by Tom Edwards

Interior design and layout by Felix R. Savage

ISBN-13: 978-1-937396-15-2

ISBN-10: 1937396150