Humanity Found Read online

  HUMANITY FOUND BOX SET

  P A WILSON

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-927669-95-2

  Audio book ISBN:978-1-927669-96-9

  * * *

  Copyright © 2019 by P A Wilson

  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 author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  CONTENTS

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  RESCUE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  FLIGHT

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  ATTACK

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Please leave a review

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  Also by P A Wilson

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

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  RESCUE

  1

  Jocaster sat in the back of the room as befit his rank and standing. If he hadn't listened to Pen, and they hadn’t been caught, they would be in the center of the room. But they were both under punishment for the antic. He reminded himself that this was a briefing, not a life sentence. If he was lucky they would get out of the room without making things worse.

  “You’d think this would get more interesting,” Pen said, reaching back to tighten the pins keeping her hair under control. “We’ll be making rendezvous in three days, and we’re still not planning a welcome party.” She elbowed him. “You get special assignments; are you keeping secrets from me?”

  Jocaster kept his eyes on the captain, sure that he would notice the inattention and apply another level of punishment to his hell. “Pretty sure there’s no party. We don’t have the excess supplies. Maybe later.”

  “You aren’t bored?”

  “I am, but if we mess up on one of the tiny details, Zeus Rising might collide with us rather than connect. Then where will Dark Prospect be?”

  “Our ship can take a few bumps,” Pen said. She didn’t sound convinced to Jocaster.

  “Be quiet. I don’t want to find myself in the brig for insubordination.”

  She sat straighter and the conversation ended.

  Jocaster smiled. He’d met Pen when he was on an undercover operation and they’d been friends since. She was adventurous and spontaneous. Half the time he went along with her plans to make sure she didn’t do something fatal. Everything about them was opposite. She was blond, fair skinned and blue eyed. He was dark skinned, green eyed, and bald by choice; his hair tended toward wild if he didn’t shave it, and an officer with an afro the size of a small moon would send a different message than he wanted.

  No matter what trouble they got in, the captain never seemed to take away the plum assignments. He knew the value of their partnership, even if it upset the order on Dark Prospect.

  The daily list of outstanding tasks for the rendezvous was winding down. The captain moved to the front of the room as the duty officer covered her final bullet points.

  When the captain stood alone at the front of the room, everyone shifted slightly in their seats. No one had been slouching, but they all came to a bit more attention.

  “I know this was tedious,” the captain said. “I’m here today to remind everyone of the purpose of our current mission.”

  He nodded to someone and a chart of the local area of space filled the wall behind him. Jocaster looked at all the blank darkness that crowded the edges of the image and encroached a lot farther into their position than he’d expected.

  “This map contains our knowledge of the area, and what Zeus Rising has transferred to us. As we receive data from the remaining ships, many of the gaps will fill in. Until now, we’ve been satisfied to roam through space as individual communities. Now, we are joining together for a reason. In the last joint report from the ships close enough to send more than a short update, we learned that what started as a thirty-ship search for a new home away from the enemy has become a twelve-ship retreat from death. Our vessels are aging, and we need to find that new home.”

  The captain paused, but Jocaster knew there would be no questions.

  “Sir,” Pen said, raising her hand.

  What trouble is she starting now?

  The captain nodded at her. “Yes, Lieutenant Tromarin?”

  Pen stood. “I think we all agree that this coming together is necessary,” she said. “A question has been bugging me for a while and I can’t figure out an answer.”

  “Ask away, Lieutenant.” The captain smiled as he said it. Jocaster wondered if it was fondness or forbearance. Pen did have a reputation for keeping her cheekiness just this side of insubordination.

  “When we find a planet, and I would love to be able to settle, don’t get me wrong, but,”

  “Spit it out, Lieutenant. We don’t have time for the fluff.”

  A chuckle ran around the room.

  “Yes, sir. The enemy has trouble finding us now that we’re scattered, but they still do — find us, that is. Aren’t we presenting an easier target by coming together, and an even easier one when we set up on a world?”

  The captain nodded. “I’m sure you aren’t the only one thinking that, but thank you for being bold enough to ask.”

  There it is again. Doesn’t he know that he is encouraging her by doing that?

  Pen sat.

  “We know the dangers. But right now, if a ship is attacked, there is no one there to help. There is no haven for any survivors. No one uses the escape pods because there is no escape. Together, we hope to present a stronger resistance. Perhaps a deterrent. And by the time we find a home, we hope to have outrun the enemy — or at least have a long head start. Does anyone know the plan for what we do when we set down? It was our mission from the start.”

  Pen stood again. “The ship will be taken apart to provide for our needs on land. Shuttles can completely gut the ship in three days. The shell can be used for raw materials if we have time, but if not, it can be vaporized.”

  She sat.

  “Teacher’s pet,” Jocaster muttered.

  She smiled.

  “We’ve agreed to alter the plan slightly.” The captain nodded again, and another image replaced the
stars. It was a list of components.

  “When we find a suitable home, we will scavenge all the items except for some samples that we need to be present when we destroy the ships. To be safe, two volunteers for each ship will move them to a different area of space, blow the ships to leave enough trace for the enemy to believe we are all destroyed. The volunteers will return in shuttles; it will be a long journey, and potentially a fatal one.”

  Jocaster stood, and when the captain acknowledged him, he asked, “have we identified any planets that might support us?”

  “Good question, Lieutenant.”

  The captain’s approval removed Jocaster’s fears that their last escapade had damaged his reputation beyond repair.

  “We, the other captains and I, will begin that process in earnest as soon as we have combined our information.”

  Another hand went up. Julie Ackerman, junior Lieutenant. A good partner in the war games Jocaster played in addition to the training simulations. “Sir, may I ask a question?” The captain nodded. “Is there room for any survivors in case of an attack?”

  The image behind the captain changed again. The twelve remaining ships and a number beside each.

  “As you can see, some of our colleagues are in worse shape than Dark Prospect; the enemy is not the only threat out here. We have an inventory of the skills that have survived on each ship, and everyone can meet basic requirements. If we don’t make changes to our mission, we will not live to see a new home.”

  * * *

  Julie was still standing. She clearly wanted more. Pen wasn’t sure that the captain had even considered taking on survivors, but now that the subject was opened, she wondered, too. She didn’t ask. Pen figured she’d embarrassed Jo enough for one session. The enemy had been chasing them for generations, and no one had ever lived to tell what they looked like. An attack was always a surprise, and always an obliteration. If the price for meeting new people was a boring reminder of what they lived with every day, then so be it.

  “So, Junior Lieutenant, the answer is: we’ll do what we need to. We hope never to face it, but there is room on Dark Prospect for as many as we need. It could mean short rations and tight quarters, but there are so few of us that we cannot refuse shelter. We need the genetic material, and if that’s not enough for you, we will not hold onto our humanity if we leave our companions behind.”

  Pen noticed Julie clench her hands where they rested behind her back. Her face didn’t reflect anything but respect; her body gave away the fact that she strongly disagreed. Pen wondered what she thought would happen if people needed help. Would she be happy to watch frozen corpses float by the screens?

  The meeting was coming to a close. Pen leaned in to whisper to Jo, but her snappy retort was silenced as a cadet entered. The boy was in a hurry and didn’t stand on protocol. He ran to the front of the room and interrupted the captain with a few whispered words. The captain stared at the boy and asked him to repeat the message. When the boy complied, the captain paled.

  Pen’s body tightened in preparation for whatever the message brought. She felt Jo come to attention beside her. The entire room went quiet, the small noises made by so many people in a confined space dropping away.

  The captain sent the boy away and turned to address the officers. “Zeus Rising met the enemy on their way to us. Survivors fled in the escape pods. We have information that they made landfall on a nearby planet. We are going to rescue them. Return to your stations and wait for further orders.” He marched from the room without waiting for any response.

  Pen stood and fumbled for support. Everyone was suddenly talking. She needed to absorb the information. A rescue team? A planet? “We have to be part of this,” she said, taking Jo’s arm. “Imagine, landing on a planet. Not a holographic representation, a real planet.”

  He guided her to the wall where the eddying crowd was thinning. “And rescuing the crew and passengers of Zeus Rising,” he reminded her. “This isn’t a joyride. The mission is too important for us, for humanity, to let an inexperienced team go.”

  Pen grinned. “Yep, but everyone is inexperienced. No one has made landfall before. In the eight hundred years since we left earth, no one has gone more than a kilometer from the ship.” She grabbed his arm tighter. “That means we are as useful as anyone.” She was already planning how to worm her way into the meeting so she could volunteer.

  “Pen,” Jo said. “I don’t think the captain thinks the same way. He’ll assign it to more senior officers.”

  “You mean older, right?” She huffed. “We should go and tell him that it would be a mistake. Being younger is a good thing. We’re more adaptable.”

  “I’m not walking up to the captain and telling him how to do his job. If we’re lucky, we’ll be included.”

  “So, just let them decide and maybe leave us out of it?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.” Jocaster looked directly into her eyes. “Don’t get us into any more trouble.”

  Pen admitted that Jo was right to be worried. She knew he could lead a rescue team, and she knew there would be an opportunity to show the captain that Pen Tromarin wasn’t someone who lived in Jo’s shadow. “I promise,” she said. “I won’t do anything that might keep us away from the mission.”

  2

  The wait for information was killing Jocaster. He paced outside his quarters, ignoring the communication beeps from Pen. Two hours had passed since the report. The only action from the ship was to announce a change in course. They were heading toward the last coordinates of Zeus Rising. No rescue team prepping, no call for volunteers. The captain, the senior officers, and the civilian leaders were secluded. All this time and the survivors were alone.

  “Lieutenant Bryman, report to the captain’s quarters.”

  Jo spun on his heels and ran. He was going to be on the rescue mission! Pen would be jealous. Of course, if he had an opportunity, he’d volunteer her. It wouldn’t be the same on a mission alone.

  There were two ensigns standing at the door to the captain’s quarters. They snapped to attention as Jocaster approached.

  “Go right in, sir,” the one on the left said.

  Jo nodded, pretending a nonchalance he didn’t feel.

  Inside, the captain and the civilian leader stood next to a printout. The captain beckoned Jocaster over and pointed to the chart. “This is where the survivors were headed. We got another short transmission an hour ago. Most of the people got out.”