Black Infinity Read online

  Black Infinity

  Discovery Series, Volume 3

  Salvador Mercer

  Published by Salvador Mercer, 2018.

  COPYRIGHT PAGE

  Black Infinity

  Copyright © 2018 by Salvador Mercer.

  All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Diamond Star Publishing

  For information contact; [email protected]

  www.salvadormercer.com

  Edited by: Izzi at Larks & Katydids

  Special 2nd Edition Developmental Edit by Paul Wight B.Sc./Grad.Dip.T.

  Cover design by Christine Savoie aka ‘Cagnes’ c2018

  ISBN: 9781386632689

  First Edition: January 2018

  Second Edition: September 2018

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

  Also by Salvador Mercer

  Claire-Agon Dragon Series

  The Blue Dragon

  The Green Dragon

  The Black Dragon

  The White Dragon

  The Red Dragon

  Discovery Series

  Lunar Discovery

  Red Horizon

  Black Infinity

  Standalone

  The Claire Agon Dragon Series

  Watch for more at Salvador Mercer’s site.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By Salvador Mercer

  Dedication

  Chapter 1 | Roaring Tiger

  Chapter 2 | Facts, Theories & Suspicions

  Chapter 3 | Treason

  Chapter 4 | First Contact

  Chapter 5 | Out of the Frying Pan

  Chapter 6 | Into the Fire

  Chapter 7 | Rebellion

  Chapter 8 | China

  Chapter 9 | Alamo

  Chapter 10 | Retreat

  Chapter 11 | Victory and Failure

  Chapter 12 | Scripts

  Chapter 13 | Interview

  Chapter 14 | Bright Jade

  Chapter 15 | Not So Fast

  Chapter 16 | Rescue

  Chapter 17 | Spetsnaz

  Chapter 18 | Loose Ends

  Chapter 19 | Jupiter

  Chapter 20 | Justice

  Contact the Author | Mailing List

  Reviews

  Contacts

  Also By Salvador Mercer

  About the Author

  For:

  Big Mom, who has gone before us.

  Chapter 1

  Roaring Tiger

  ALIEN CONSTRUCT

  93° West, 4° South

  Near Tithonium Chasma, Mars

  In the near future, Year 4, Day 178

  “WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?” Julie Monroe asked.

  Maria, her science officer, responded, “The same thing we’ve done for the last three days, Commander. I wasn’t expecting this either. I tried to execute the latest sequence that MAX sent to us for consideration.”

  She was asking about the lights again. They were dimming; a new holographic image was coming online around Julie and Maria in the small command module where they’d been isolated for the past three days.

  The pattern was almost mesmerizing as the pair took in the sight of what appeared to be further corridors and rooms of the alien construct. The map-like features of the hologram shimmered in a display of color, which was only broken by the sound of Neil Sullivan coming from their open comms system: “Commander Monroe,” he began, “we’re getting new readings from up here on the Horizon. Did you two implement the sequencing already?”

  “Affirmative,” Jules said, craning her neck from side to side to take in the new vista presented to them.

  “Then you’ll be interested in knowing that the thermal reading beneath you just went off the scale,” Neil said.

  “That’s impossible,” Maria said, the scientific part of her mind forcing her to respond, despite the colorful, holographic distraction that was competing for her attention.

  Neil’s response was direct and to the point: “The infrared spectrum analyzer is showing maximum emissivity from the construct past the high range of the instrument.”

  “That would mean the heat source is radiating lower than the gauge of seven hundred nanometers,” Maria stated.

  Doctor Hill, the medical officer, came over the radio interrupting their conversation. “Is the radiation higher or lower?”

  “Lower wave length, Doctor,” Maria said with a sigh.

  “Well, the signal looks impressive on the monitor from here,” Hill said, seeing the same infrared readings that Sullivan was reporting on.

  “That would mean the heat source would be visible,” Maria said.

  “Ah, I think it is...” Hill said slowly.

  Maria stopped for a moment and tried turning her back on the hologram, only to realize it circled the room and there was no escaping it. She looked down to prevent herself from being distracted then asked, “Commander Sullivan, are you picking something up via the optical sensors?”

  A few seconds ticked by until the man answered. “Yes, the shaft that allowed ingress is now emitting in both the infrared and visible spectrums.”

  Julie walked the few steps over to Maria and leaned down so that she could see her, then whispered softly, below the trigger-level of the voice-activated mike. “Did you activate an energy source?”

  Maria shook her head and whispered back, “No, the sequencing was approved by you and ordered into the most logical succession as defined by the parameters we set.”

  “Give it to me simply,” Jules said, not wanting to guess at the meaning of her science officer’s words. “Did you activate an energy source or not?”

  “No,” Maria said, again emphatically shaking her head. “The entire objective was to access the interior region of the construct, not to activate anything other than a door.”

  “Did you copy my last?” Neil asked across the com link.

  Jules nodded at Maria, indicating she’d field the question. “Affirmative, Neil. We copied.”

  That wasn’t sufficient for her second in command, who followed up with an eerily similar question: “Did you engage a power source down there?”

  “No,” Jules said. “Well, maybe....”

  “Which is it?” Doctor Hill asked rather unceremoniously.

  “It’s not like we have a user’s manual down here,” Jules responded, her tone a bit defensive. “Maria is doing her best with what MAX has recommended. The objective remains the same: to open an interior door.”

  “Well, I’d say you opened a door alright—one that leads directly to that alien furnace.”

  “Clear the channel, Doctor,” Jules ordered, pausing to break comms with her medical officer. “What exactly are you picking up on visual?”

  Neil responded, “Commander, we’re watching the uplink from our last remaining bird, though the video feed is about to be terminated as it clears its line-of-sight. We won’t be in range for another twenty-seven minutes after that.”

  “That’s a long time to go without direct observation,” Jules noted, half talking to herself. “Do we still have the CCTVs from the lander active?”

  “Not right now—they were shut down to conserve their batteries, though we can have them up and running in less than fi
ve minutes.”

  “Make it happen.”

  “Roger that, Commander.”

  Motioning for Maria to join her, Jules stepped back and took up what she considered the best position to view the new holographic display. “Do you recognize anything?”

  Maria shook her head. “No, this one is fairly different.”

  The pair was interrupted by someone clearing their throat impatiently. Though they could talk between themselves privately, their last transmissions were loud enough to be broadcast on their open channel, both planet and ship side.

  Jules rolled her eyes, an obvious gesture that only Maria could see, and asked, “What is it, Doctor?”

  Hill sounded like he couldn’t wait to ask his question but dared not cross his commander after a direct order. “Fairly different from what?” he asked.

  Maria spoke: “From the first image, Doctor Hill. The image we’re seeing now is similar in layout, but the corridors and hallways we see are dark in color, not white as it is in here. Can’t you see it on the video repeaters?”

  Several cameras were sending their feeds directly to the ship via radio signals after first digitizing them—surely, he could see them. Doctor Hill responded promptly, “The feed is still choppy, and the contrast is poor with your lighting level down there.”

  John Royal, the tech engineer, spoke before someone asked him to. “I can try to enhance the resolution by lowering the frame rate, but it will make the choppy picture worse.”

  Maria sighed then stated, “Nothing is happening down here. The hologram is static for the moment, so I doubt the frame rate would matter, John. Go ahead and make the changes; we have everything recorded in 16K down here.”

  Jules agreed. “See to it, and be advised that we lost the old video feed of the outside corridors. If our SEAL team will maintain their station on board our ship, we can try to figure this out.”

  “That’s fine, Commander Monroe. We show both of you at the same location via our feeds, and Major Carter has assured me his team is ready for immediate launch. Go ahead and take your time with Officer Mayer and see if you can capitalize on the activity,” Neil said.

  Jules nodded, though her body language would be difficult to see—much less interpret—on their monitors, but human habits were hard to break. “Roger that,” she said simply. One thing she liked about the military soldiers that accompanied her NASA team was the fact that they seldom spoke, and when they did it was with good, concise radio protocol. It kept the radio chatter to a minimum, and she appreciated how efficiently it allowed her to do her job.

  Sure, they had their own private channel, though she could switch over to it at will—and Doctor Hill had done that on more than one occasion. However, he had come away disappointed, as they still seldom spoke and there wasn’t anything interesting to hear when they did. Major Carter kept a tight ship, at least from her perspective.

  “This is interesting,” John said from the Red Horizon.

  “What are you referring to?” Jules asked, wishing he’d just report the information, instead of milling over it like a scholar.

  “It looks like our long gain transmissions may have finally been received by Houston. We have the beginning of an inbound security packet code that came across the FM band receiver.”

  “Was it coded or plain?” Neil asked.

  John answered, “The verification packet was coded; the initial stand-by message was in the clear.”

  “Well, it would be damn good to finally hear from Houston,” Doctor Hill said, a tinge of relief in his voice.

  “John,” Jules started, “ensure that I’m notified immediately if we have an inbound message and get me a sitrep on our lander’s CCTV status if you don’t mind.”

  “Roger, Commander.”

  “Commander,” Neil interjected quickly, “is there anything progressing with your new holographic image?”

  “Not yet, though I’d like to know exactly what we’re seeing and why are we seeing it?” Jules’ next question was more serious. “Have the Russians made any indication of mobilizing?”

  The calm but commanding voice of Major Carter answered that question: “The Soviets are right where we left them.”

  It had been only twenty-four hours earlier, but the Soviets had finally arrived and had managed to insert their ship, the Red Star, into Mars planetary orbit. At first, they had been a good three hours behind the Red Horizon and Roaring Tiger, but several short but powerful burns had allowed them to position themselves only a few clicks above and behind the pair of spaceships that had arrived earlier.

  This entire scenario contradicted what the major had just stated, but no one was going to correct the man. Instead, Neil said, “I’m sure they’re going to have the same readings that we do. This could finally force their hand. I can’t imagine they’ll sit in their ship until we vacate the premises, so to speak.”

  Jules nodded, though only Maria could see her. “Maybe they’re having the same communication issues we are.”

  “Maybe,” Neil said.

  “Major Carter, have you found the cause of your men’s weapon malfunction yet?” Jules asked. Neither the Chinese nor their own SEALs had had functioning firearms when they had first encountered each other three days earlier.

  “It appears the powder for each round is now inert,” Carter said.

  “I guess the aliens practice gun control on their planetary bases,” Doctor Hill chuckled.

  “Sorry to change subjects on you, Commander, but do you really think the Soviets have also been cut off from their mission control for the last three days?” Carter asked.

  “If the jamming is on all radio frequencies and based on, or closer to, Earth, then I’d say no communications are making it through,” she answered.

  “That would be a good bet.”

  “So if they’re cut off, and so are we, what are they waiting for?” Doctor Hill asked.

  Someone said, “Yeah.”

  Jules asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “Maybe they’re waiting on us?”

  “On us to do what?” Hill asked.

  “That’s a very good question, Doctor.”

  KRASNAYA ZVESDA (Red Star)

  Mars’ orbit

  In the near future, Year 4, Day 178

  “WHY ARE WE WAITING?” Olga asked from her command chair in the cockpit next to Yuri. “They can see us as clearly as we can see them.”

  “It’s not that simple,” he explained. “It appears that Colonel Popov is under strict orders not to engage without prior authorization from the politburo itself.”

  “That’s ridiculous. How is the man to take such orders?”

  “I didn’t mean it literally,” Yuri said. “The orders would be coded to indicate approval from our leadership.”

  “That explains why he’s so married to his little black book,” Olga said, allowing a faint smile to cross her face.

  “The man has to keep it secure and there’s scant privacy on our little metal ship. He’s simply doing his job, Olga. Perhaps you can cut him some slack?”

  “Nyet.” Olga shook her head. “The man is close to cracking, I can see it in his eyes, and I don’t like it.”

  “I doubt the colonel cares much for what you like or don’t like,” Yuri scolded his second-in-command. “Maybe it would be best if you ran a diagnostic on our transceivers?”

  “Are you out of your mind?” Olga asked, turning her head to look at her boss. “We’ve run two dozen of them, taking at least an hour each time. I’ve spent more time running tests on our radios than I have doing anything else. Besides, I already told you, the source of the jamming is Earth.”

  “We don’t know that. Last we heard our comms were diverted to Kalinin.”

  “Due to hostile actions,” Olga said, looking as smug as she sounded.

  Yuri sighed. “We don’t know the exact reason for our communications blackout, and I daresay the Americans haven’t exactly been chatty either.”

  “Ah.” Olga p
ointed a finger at her commander. “So you have been monitoring their communications.”

  “Of course I have—we all have. That is what we’re supposed to do.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.”

  The pair of cosmonauts sat in silence, wondering how long they would wait to go planetside after spending four months in the vacuum of interplanetary space. Olga hummed out loud for a moment, an old nursery rhyme, the title of which escaped Yuri’s mind. Before he could ponder it further, she asked, “Do you think the Americans and Chinese have teamed up to keep us out?”

  Yuri shook his head, “I can’t imagine that scenario under any circumstance—”

  Olga interrupted him. “The colonel certainly thinks they have, and he’s about ready to crack ... probably try to kill both of them.”

  “Olga, please, enough with the speculation, and you’ve mentioned his state of mind more than once already. That is sufficient for now—you most certainly don’t want him to hear you saying what you’re saying.”

  “Well, at the rate that the Americans travel back and forth to the Chinese ship, I’d say they are having a very cozy relationship. Perhaps you are simply jealous?”

  At this, Yuri did give her a sideways glance, narrowing his eyes slightly as the ends of his lips curled down in disapproval. His tone was congruent with his body language. “You’re having too much fun at our expense. I should order you to run a full set of diagnostics on the ship’s systems as well, including environmental.” The latter was more than a threat as it involved the rather unpleasant task of verifying the disposal of their body wastes. Despite the hygienic packaging, and vacuum assisted suction for collection, the bio waste unit was never absolutely clean.

  “You have no sense of humor,” Olga simply said, turning to look out the front window at the pair of small dots slightly above the curvature of the red planet.

  “After four months with you, no man would.”

  Olga scoffed.