To Well And Back (The Deep Dark Well) (32 page)

About the Author

Doug Dandridge is an
ex-professional student with degrees from Florida State University and The
University of Alabama, and coursework in Psychology, Biology, Geology, Physics,
Chemistry, Anthropology and Nursing.  Doug has interest in all of the
fantastic, including science fiction, fantasy and horror, as well as all eras
of military history.  Doug is a prolific writer, having completed 25 novel
length manuscripts.  He is still seeking a major publishing contract, but has
decided that self- publishing is the way to go at this time.  His work can be
found on Amazon and Smashwords, as well as his own website.  Doug lives with
his five cats in Tallahassee, Florida, and currently has no social life, as he
is too busy writing around his work schedule.

Follow my many
characters and settings at
http://dougdandridge.net

Contact me at
[email protected]

Follow my Blog, Doug
BrotherofCats Dandridge at
http://dougdandridge.com

Follow me
@BrotherofCats

The Favor of a review.

Reviews, ratings and
comments on Amazon about this novel are much appreciated.  If you liked the
story please leave a review that will help others to discover this novel.  If
you have comments about mistakes I might have made, posting them in a review
will tell me what I need to do to grow as a writer and put a quality product
out on the net.  If you want to see these characters again (at least the ones
that survived) a review will let me know I should consider writing in this
particular Universe again.

I read all the reviews
of my books and love to hear what my readers have to say.  If you have a moment
I would be grateful for your time.  Review Page.

Excerpt from Deeper and
Darker

The station, or at
least the part of the station that was being used, was crowded with sentient
beings for the first time in five thousand years.  A wormhole had been
installed in the home system of the Suryans, and tens of thousands of personnel
now swarmed the walkways and corridors.  The great majority were undergoing
training, as were the couple of thousand Maurids and Hustedeans who were being
bootstrapped up to the modern age.

Almost too many of them
, thought Pandora,
returning the bow of the kangaroo like Hustedean who was passing her in the
corridor.  She remembered the first sight of one of those particular aliens, on
the
Hernand
, the ship that had traveled into the past and had been
responsible for her going into the future, while the rest of her crew died a
death of complete annihilation.  These on the station were somewhat more
mobile, and she had welcomed them aboard, even if the sight of them brought
back the memories.

That had been one of
her first decisions after mandating that the Suryans would be running things. 
She did not want to establish a human hegemony over the other species.  So she
had ruled that as many alien races as possible should join in the mission, as
well as humans from many different worlds.  It was not hers or Watcher’s plan
to create a human dominated Galaxy, based on one culture and religion.  The
Galaxy was to be as it had been, a polyglot people of many species, cultures
and faiths.

Pandora came out of the
corridor and into the long gate room, in which three of the active gates were
in use, one to the Suryan home world, two others to the worlds the Suryans and
Nation of Humanity people had claimed for their own.  Technicians were leaving
the gate from the Suryan home world, while other technicians, and men and women
who could be classified as missionaries, were going to those more primitive
worlds.  Pandi smiled as she thought of the missionaries, with Marine guards of
course, going to that medieval world she had visited, and telling the kings and
dukes the new score.

So many
, she thought again,
looking at the Suryan Marine guards that were securing this room, knowing that
several other gate rooms were also secured.  The combat robots of course were
also here, and the Suryans thought that they now had total control of the
machines, which was one of her little tests of them.  So far they had passed,
and she was sure they didn’t know she could order a million robots to come to
her aid if necessary.  They may have guessed it, but they didn’t know.  She had
her own failsafes built in to make sure the station wasn’t taken from her and
Watcher, safeguards she had decided on after the Nation Marines had invaded the
station.

“Niven
is ready to go,” said
Captain Dasha Mandrake, the Flag Captain of the flagship of Pandora’s squadron.

“How about
Vengeance
and
Avenger?” a
sked the woman from the past, naming the two other
vessels in the squadron.  She thought the first name was best for her flag, the
name of her Kuiper Belt miner that had been her home in the twenty-first
century, before the paradox that was a ship from the future destroyed it.  The
other two ships just suited her personality, and had been the names of two of
the vessels she had used since coming to the four hundred and eightieth
century. 
But sometimes I wonder about the luck of naming all my vessels
after ships that fell to pieces around me.
  She shrugged while she looked
at the woman who would be her right hand officer.”

“They should be ready
in another eighteen hours, according to their Captains,” said the woman who
would also be the second in command of the flotilla.  “They’re still trying to
fill a couple of crew slots, especially since you insisted on some aliens for
those spots.”

“Yes,” said Pandora,
thinking about what she had ordered.  “I do.  I don’t want this to be a human
only venture.”

“But we have the
compliment of robots,” said the Captain, shaking her head.  “Enough combat
robots to invade a small world, beside the maintenance bots.”

“I want sentients
aboard my ships,” said Pandora, shaking her head yet again.  “Robots are fine,
but I want the command and control functions controlled by sentients.  And five
thousand years is enough time for these sentients to be living in low tech
squalor.  They deserve a better future, and that future is now.  That’s what I
want, and that’s what Watcher wanted.”

Pandora felt a little
guilty invoking Watcher’s name for everything, but it worked to get the point
across without argument.  He had attained the status of a demigod to these
people.  While they revered her, they worshipped the space he occupied.  And
she knew he would have wanted this.  God knew he had enough guilt as it was,
without letting the peoples of the Galaxy die from things that high tech could
prevent. 
And here I am about to lead sentients beings into a crusade that
might kills thousands, millions, maybe a lot more.  And I justify it because it
will be for the benefit of the Galaxy as a whole.  But not to the poor slobs
who have to do the dying.

“The Admiral still
thinks you should wait until we can get you a proper fleet,” said the Captain,
looking levelly into Pandora’s eyes.  “He believes, as do I, that we might find
ourselves up against more than we can handle, depending on the size of this
empire.”

“And every moment I
waste could bring Watcher closer to death,” said Pandora, her face reddening as
the rage rose within her.  “I am not going to waste a minute I don’t have too. 
Unless you and your people want to bail?”

“I would not think of
it,” said the young woman, her own voice rising in anger.  “We are not cowards,
to back out on our pledge.  You insult us by even suggesting such.”

Pandora stood there for
a moment, closing her eyes and shaking her head, forcing calm back upon
herself.  She opened her eyes and smiled.  “I am very sorry to have insinuated
that you and your people would not be loyal.  I feel so much stress right now,
more than I felt when those fanatics had their hands on me.  I did not mean to
attack you personally.”

“Apology accepted,”
said Mandrake, her own frown turning into a smile.  “Now the Admiral would like
to talk to you at your earliest convenience.”

“Of course.  I guess I
might find it convenient by sometime tomorrow,” said Pandora with a wink, and
the other woman laughed.  Pandi knew that the Suryans jumped to the beck and
call of their superiors.  But none of them were her superiors in any way.

The Captain saluted and
turned away, still smiling, and Pandora headed for the Admiral’s officer off
the concourse between gate rooms.  The man had chosen an office that had
belonged to a high level executive, five thousand years in the past.  It
probably would have suited the king on his nation, but Pandora thought it
perfect for the military commander of the station.

Pandi put her hand to
the door and the portal lit up, letting her know that her signal had been
received.  The door slid open and revealed a good looking young Ensign manning
a desk.  The woman smiled at Pandora, whose appearance everyone in the Suryan
contingent knew by heart.  Pandi looked around the room for a moment then back
at the dark skinned young officer.

The Suryan system,
consisting of a quartet of terraformed moons around a gas giant, had originally
been settled by people whose ancestors hailed from the subcontinent of India. 
Of course in the old Empire there were no places that claimed one hundred
percent pure race.  But the distinctive look of the Indian people was still apparent
in the Suryans.

“The Admiral is
expecting you, ma’am,” said the officer with a smile, her eyes unfocusing for a
moment as she went into link.  Pandora smiled back, remembering that they had
wanted to pin some kind of label on her like High Admiral or Archduchess, which
she had resisted to the last argument.

“Thank you,” said
Pandi, heading for the door on the side of the opulent looking reception room. 
That door opened as she approached and she walked into the even more luxurious
main office.  The room was large, of course, twenty by twenty meters, with a
desk that seemed to swallow up its small occupant.  Rugs of rich fabrics were
on the floors, tapestries and painting of rare artistry were on the walls, and
every fixture was chased in gold or platinum, and set with jewels.

“I’m so glad you could
come, Ms. Latham,” said the Admiral, waving her toward a seat.

“Always happy to
oblige, Admiral,” said Pandi, plopping into the comfortable seat that seemed to
enfold her body in a warm massage.  She sighed in pleasure.  “The ancestors
sure were a hedonistic bunch.”

“That they were,” said
the Admiral with a laugh.

Books
by Doug Dandridge

Science
Fiction

The
Deep Dark Well Trilogy

The
Deep Dark Well
:  An Adventure 40,000 years in the making.  Pandora Latham
was a Kuiper Belt Miner from Alabama.  She’s used to landing on her feet, even
when the next surface is through a wormhole, halfway across the Galaxy and
46,000 years in the Future.  Pandora must discover the secret behind the end of
civilization, and the enigma of the Immortal Watcher, the last survivor of the
Empire that once ruled the stars.  Her decisions will set the path for Galactic
recovery, or a continuation down the roads of Barbarism.

To Well and Back:  Pandora
Latham is back, working Watcher’s plan to restore Galactic Civilization.  But
first she has to deal with the Xenophobes of the Nation of Humanity, back in
the Supersystem with their sights set on making the Galaxy their own.  Pandora
is angry at the hyper religious Nation, and you don’t want to make a woman from
Alabama angry.

The
Exodus Series

Exodus:
Empires at War: Book 1
:  The introduction to the Exodus Universe.  Two
thousand years prior mankind fled from the Predatory Ca’cadasans, traveling a
thousand years and ten thousand light years to a new home.  Now the greatest
power of their sector of space, things seem to be going well for the New Terran
Empire.  Until the enemy appears once again at the gates.  And the years have
not softened the aliens’ stance toward Humanity.

Exodus:
Empires at War: Book 2
:  The saga continues.  The Ca’cadasans attack at the
moment when the government of the Empire is at its most chaotic.  There are
other enemies as well, waiting for their chance to fall on the overwhelmed humans. 
And a young man with no ambition for power finds himself in the position he
most dreads.

Other
Scifi

Diamonds
in the Sand
:  When a perfectly healthy scientist falls dead of an apparent
heart attack, it is up to Sarasota Police Detective Lieutenant Gary Lariviere
to find out what really happened.  The scientist was working on Nanotechnology,
a secret desired by everyone from the Government to the Mob.  There are too
many suspects, including the woman that Gary comes to love.  The Army had made
Gary better than human, but had they prepared him for the terrors that had been
unleashed by the new technology?

The
Scorpion
:  The Scorpion had been the world’s deadliest living terrorist. 
Kestral McMann had been in on the kill.  Now The Scorpion is back as a mind
upload, using clones to penetrate the tight security of an isolationist United
States.  McMann is the only man who can stop him.  But can McMann survive the
threat of his own side, and the insane President who leads the Nation, in time
to stop The Scorpion from plunging the Great Satan back into the Stone Age.

The
Shadows of the Multiverse
:  Something has been periodically wiping
intelligence from our Universe through the ages.  It’s back, and it’s up to
three unlikely heroes, the Captain of a Battle Cruiser, a Physicist turned
Archeologist, and a Child, to save the intelligence of the Universe from
Monsters from another Dimension.  Can they learn to use the powers of their
unusual Quantum Minds to defeat creatures that have been playing the game for
billions of years?

Afterlife
: 
What if you didn’t believe in the afterlife of the World’s Religions?  And what
if science offered you the alternative, survival within the Virtual World of a
computer, where your mental abilities are magnified and you can do anything you
want?  And what if the World decided that your way was wrong, and declared war
on you, meaning to destroy your reality?  What would you do?  Afterlife, a tale
of survival at all costs.

Fantasy

The
Refuge Series

Refuge:
The Arrival: Book 1
:  A nuclear war in Central Europe opens the gates
between dimensions, sending millions of Earth Humans into a land of myth,
archetypes and fantasy.  The Evil Emperor of the Ellala Elves sees the humans
as energy to fuel his transformation to immortality.  But the humans have
brought their own weapons with them, as well as a race of Demigods who will
battle the fantastic armies of Refuge.  The war is on, and only one side will
ultimately survive.

Refuge:
The Arrival: Book 2
:  The Ellala have a plan to destroy the human military
and capture the civilians.  And the humans find that their weapons will soon
cease to function.  So it’s use it or lose it for the Earth Humans, and they
use it with a vengeance.  Tanks against Mages, Attack Helicopters against
Dragons, and Nuclear Weapons against Death Gods.  And the other peoples of the
planet come forth as allies to the humans that they see as the fulfillment an
Ancient Prophecy.  But will it be enough?

Refuge:
Doppelganger
: Set thousands of years after the arrival, Kurt von
Mannerheim, the Immortal Emperor of the Imperium of Free Nations, must give up
everything to save his Empress, the Elfin Princess Gwenara Elysius von
Mannerheim.  The world is at a crisis point as the Evil Tarakesh Empire, under
its Immortal Emperor Heinrich Stuppleheim, prepares to overrun the world with
its Nazi Ideology.  And Kurt must face a creature of legend that may prove too
much for even his physical and mental abilities.

Other
Fantasy

The
Hunger
:  Abused wife, drug addict, prostitute; Lucinda Taylor had been
victimized by men all her adult life.  Left for dead by her pimp, Lucinda was
turned by a passing vampire.  When he is destroyed she becomes a free agent,
slaking her hunger for blood on the bottom dwellers of society, the type of men
who once victimized her.  The crime boss of Tampa is her next target, and the
City by the Bay is about to become a bloodbath.  But can Lucinda avoid those
who are hunting for her; the Priest, the FBI man, and a pair of Vampires who
would like nothing better than to send one Avenging Vampire forever into the
dark?

Daemon
: 
A Steampunk Fantasy.  The world is dying, the victim of the magic used by
society for the last three hundred years.  Daemon Corporation thinks they have
the answer, stealing the life from other worlds, bringing from other dimensions
the intelligences that inhabit them for sacrifice on Earth.  But something has
come with them, a force that is killing the employees of Daemon Corp.  It is up
to Forensic Mage Detective Jude Parkinson to find a way to stop the
unstoppable, while keeping the head of Daemon Corp from silencing him to keep
the dark secrets of the company out of the public eye.

Aura
: 
Triplets are born on a world where the magical Aura decides the fate of its
owner.  Ariel is a girl with more than double the normal Aura, destined to
become a mighty Priest or Mage.  Aiden has a less than normal Aura, and is destined
to be a soldier or laborer.  While Arlen has no Aura at all, and is seen as an
abomination in the eyes of the Church of Baalra the Dragon God, which has no
power over those with Negative Auras.  Fate will rip the siblings apart, then
bring them back together as they battle to defeat the Dragon God and leave the
Evil Empire, before Ariel is taken as the Avatar of Baalra, his mortal vessel
on Earth.

New
Imagination Unlimited Newsletter

Sign up for my free Newsletter at
Mailchimp
,
for insights into my writing, future projects, promotions and new releases. 
The Newsletter will come out at least twice a month, and will always contain
something new.