Colonization Sci-Fi Adventure Book Series
Babel Series by Jennifer Slusher and Linda Thackeray
Series Excerpt
On the hangar deck of the AS Olympus, the largest battleship in the Alliance, the scientific team chosen by Dr. Nakamura made the final preparations for their survey mission to Gaia. With anticipation running high, the expedition was the tonic they needed after months of confinement and grief. Like the Sharks escorting them, they were eager to get underway. Discoveries awaited on the planet below and every second they spent waiting to leave felt like time squandered.
Most of them were experts in their fields of study, mined from the numerous refugee ships trailing the Olympus, after it finally sighted the planet Gaia. Nakamura assembled the team with the aid of an experienced expedition leader, Dr. Olivia Hall. A foremost expert in the field of planetary surveying, her place in the fleet was secured long before they left Earth. Dr. Hall was essential for the colonisation of Gaia, and the Alliance was not about to let her take her chances with a lottery, no matter how poorly that sat with her.
Their survival depended on it.
For almost twenty years, Olivia was present for nearly every colonisation project in Sol. From Miranda to Neptune, whether it was a gaseous rock or an icy wasteland, Olivia and her team were there first, laying the groundwork to ensure the successful colonisation of the new frontier. Thanks to her contributions, humanity spread across Sol, beyond Earth and Lunar.
In Nakamura's opinion, there could be no one better to determine if Babel was safe for humans.
Sadly, due to Sol's premature destruction, not all of Olivia's survey team reached the fleet in time to escape. As a result, there were visible gaps in her team's roster and working together, they had cherry picked the best candidates from what remained of humanity's academic pool. Some had the skills necessary to be of value in the expeditions. Others were chosen because there was no one else left.
It was a painful reminder of just how many brilliant minds were lost.
* * *
“So, your brother doesn't know you're on this mission?” Dr. Tamara Adelaide, specialist exobiologist, asked Engineer Luke Rickman as he secured their scanning equipment in the appropriate cases.
“Nope, “Luke snapped the metal lock into place and ran his hands along the seam of the case to make sure he got the others as well. “We spoke to each other a few weeks ago but not since. You know what com traffic is like.”
She did. Once the list of survivors was released across the fleet, there was an unholy swell of people demanding to talk to loved ones after discovering them on other ships. All were desperate to regain the sense of family the nova had so effectively destroyed. Unfortunately, this meant the com systems were running around the clock and people were stuck on waiting lists that were days long for the chance of any link time.
Luke knew he was lucky.
When news of the nova first became public, Luke was working on Haumea, one of the planetesimals in the Kuiper Belt, as an engineer. Like the rest of the station's contractors, he'd headed home immediately because family was where you wanted to be when the end came. He made it as far as Ganymede when the sun went nova prematurely without ever seeing his parents or siblings again. In the last days of Sol, communication traffic was so frenzied, with everyone trying to contact their loved ones, Luke was barely able to call home before it was too late.
When he did speak to them, he was allotted a savagely short five-minute transmission to say goodbye to his parents and sister Lily. At that point, he had no idea what happened to Derick.
A month after they passed through the Ribbon, when Luke was still devastated from the loss of his family, he learned his older brother survived the destruction of Sol. It was a miracle he was not about to question because, until he saw Derick's name appear on the survivors list, he truly believed he was all that was left of his family.
When he spoke to Derick for the first time a few weeks later, the sheer rush of emotion at hearing Derick's voice almost moved him to tears. Even Derick's typical Marine bravado had crumbled. For one moment, they were two siblings taking comfort in each other because everyone else they loved was dead. Now, all they had was each other and those bonds never felt more desperately urgent than now, when they were on the edge of everything.
“I'm glad,” Tamara's soft voice hid the sadness of her own loss, even if she was happy for him. Her mother and brother died together in their family home at Okinawa. If not for the appointment to Dr. Hall's team, she would have died with them. She was fully prepared to. However, Matsuko Adelaide, ever the pragmatist, insisted she accept the lottery ticket. A chance at life should never be squandered, she said.
Tamara liked to think Matsuko and Aaron spent their last days together as if they were celebrating the holidays, by sharing memories and giving thanks to God for all the good times.
The flutter in her voice made Luke pause immediately and glance over his shoulder. “You okay?” He eyed her with concern.
“Yes,” she nodded, wondering how odd it was they'd forged this friendship when in the beginning she could barely stand him.
They met on Ganymede. Luke was trading his expertise on ships for passage back to Earth and his family while Tamara was leaving hers to join Dr. Hall's team. To her, he was nothing more than a skirt chaser who bedded every woman in sight. Tall, handsome, and broad shouldered, Luke's blue eyes and charming smile could have been labelled a weapon of mass attraction. Tamara remained uninterested, finding his cocky, arrogant swagger obnoxious instead of charming.
Everything changed with Earth's destruction and they found themselves on the same ship, sharing the same grief. Pain had made them friends. Throughout the next five months, their sorrow forged the friendship she now came to cherish. He was her best friend and filled the void left behind by Aaron and her mother.
“We're going to get through this, right?” He stood up and rested his hand on her shoulders, making sure she looked up when he spoke.
She was such a little thing, he thought, standing over her. Just an inch over five-foot, she was a porcelain beauty with Asian and Caucasian parentage. Hidden behind the nerd-girl-chic glasses was a beautiful woman who reminded him of Lilly. As any big brother would, he'd slotted Tamara into the role of little sister and saw it as his duty to protect her from the meaner things in life. Taking care of Tamara during the voyage through the emptiness of space saved him from going crazy.
He didn't want her to think she was any less important to him just because Derick was still alive.
“Yes,” she rewarded him with a grateful smile. “We will.”
“Good,” he lowered down and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, “You'll meet Derick, and then it will be three of us, just like the Three Musketeers. All for one and one for all.”
Tamara laughed, finding his enthusiasm infectious. “Right,” she beamed. “One for all and all for one.”
* * *
Something about guiding a smaller ship onto a larger one, while going approximately a billion miles an hour NEVER got old. It didn't matter if the smaller ship wasn't a Zephyr or a fully decked out troop carrier. To Jules, flying was familiar and welcome. After months of pulling decisions out of her ass (or so it felt), it felt satisfying to do something she knew she was good at.
It was certainly a far smoother ride than the last time she put a hopper on a ship.
“Firefly, this is Olympus Flight Deck, Chief Edmund at your service.”
Jules smiled as she tapped her headset to activate the link and leaned forward. A busy landing bay loomed overhead and there was a single figure standing on the edge. The man's arms were in the air, a glow light in each hand above his head. “I see you, Chief.”
“Roger that, Captain Curran. Once you breach the barrier, proceed to slot eleven.”
“Slot eleven, aye, Chief.” Yep. Familiar felt good.
* * *
Despite the Olympus being larger than the Rutherford, Jules could see they suffered the same lack of space. Crates, crates, and even more crates lined the walls of the flight deck, secured into place all the way to the overhead ceiling. On her ship, most storage lockers were converted to habitable space and the cargo was stuffed anywhere they would stay put. She suspected it was the same here.
Catching sight of cots lining the back of the flight deck, Jules realized they must be for the deck crew. The Rutherford's crew did the same, giving up their berth for the passengers. Hell, they even had people living in some of the hoppers. She made sure every single one of them was acknowledged for their sacrifice with letters of recommendation. For whatever it was worth.
Following the crew member's hand signals, again so familiar, Jules waited until his gloved hands fisted before she started the landing sequence. The Firefly bumped softly against the deck and, 3.2 seconds later, a light blinked green on her console. The maglocks were in place and they were secure. She popped her harness and reached for the intercom.
“Major Merrick, we are on deck. You're clear.”
Popping his harness, Tom keyed his headset to respond. “Thanks, lu… uh Captain,” Once again Tom kept himself from finishing the word and cleared his throat, ignoring Derick's pointed smirk. “I don't imagine this will take long. We'll give the squints some help loading up and then we'll be off. General Connor wanted us to get down there quick smart. Keep the engine running,” he said into his headset as he moved towards the hatch.
“I'll keep her hot,” Jules grinned as she got to her feet to stretch.
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