Like a New Star, page 1
Book Description
Qu’uda alien, Billy, begs Taylor to rescue his stranded fellow aliens. The Clan mobilizes and conquers Ohio to get C-17 planes at the Wright-Patterson base and rescue the Qu’uda survivors. Learning a US military network exists on the West Coast, the Clan flies to the West Coast and builds spacecraft using fusion drives in submarines.
Meanwhile, the Qu’uda build armored warcraft, for they want to return to Earth and wipe out its “dry-land vermin.” Unseen to the Qu’uda, a Hoo-Lii craft emerges from a warp in space-time. It is attacked by the Qu’uda, which then attacks the human spaceship, which uses nuke missiles to overwhelm the Qu’uda ship. The humans send water in an effort to open communication with them. The Hoo-Lii aliens accept the water and promise to return.…
Praise for New Star
New Star … this book still delivers breathless, addictive stuff … A solid post-apocalyptic/space war action tale for sci-fi fans …
—Kirkus Reviews
Like A New Star
Clash of the Aliens
M. B. Wood
Like A New Star
Copyright © 2018 Faucett Publishing LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.
The ebook edition of this book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share the ebook edition with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
EBook ISBN: 978-1-68057-055-7
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-68057-054-0
Cover artwork by Michael J. Canales
Kevin J. Anderson, Art Director
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Monument CO 80132
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Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, Publishers
WordFire Press eBook Edition 2020
WordFire Press Trade Paperback Edition 2020
Printed in the USA
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Contents
The Story so Far
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
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Epilogue
Dramatis Personae
A Societal Glossary
About the Author
If You Liked …
Other WordFire Press Titles by M.B. Wood
The Story so Far
In Book 1, Middle Eastern fanatics paralyze Western Civilization with massive EMPs, creating a post-apocalyptic world that is a sea of chaos and near-anarchy. Refugees create a society under a primitive rule of law. Proud, fierce, and free, Taylor MacPherson and a tight-knit group of survivors known as the Clan take their first steps to restoring law and justice… as a race of hermaphroditic aliens, the Qu’uda, arrives to find a post-apocalyptic Earth.
In Book 2, Taylor MacPherson witnesses a strange light in the night sky, which is a leftover missile-defense weapon that blasts the giant Qu’uda spaceship, stranding it in an unstable orbit. The Qu’uda send one of their own, “Billy,” down to Earth to fashion parts necessary for repairs. A war among surviving human factions comes at a terrible cost to each, and Billy is abandoned by his race; he throws in his lot with Taylor and his refugees. The aliens leave the surface and plan to return and bomb the Earth into a new Stone Age.
Book 3 reveals the backstory of how the Qu’uda came to investigate Earth. Another alien race, the Hoo-Lii, has a rigid society ruled by Hive-Mothers, with a warrior class of mating males and a great underclass of “unripened,” non-mating males and females. Wars between Hives are frequent, which are fought only with digit-held weapons or on a spine-to-spine basis.
An old Hive-Mother seeks to reverse societal decline. She ripens her daughter in defiance of the convention of bringing in a new female from outside to lead the Hive. The daughter, Suh-Joh, struggles with her unexpected role and builds a powerful military to force a facedown with the Council of Hive-Mothers. Despite her calls for change, new ideas are not accepted easily among the Hoo-Lii. Hive-Mother Suh-Joh now leads her once-decadent world.
Hoo-Lii religion, the Way-of-the-Mother, forbids weapons of mass destruction. Their society is in decline, slowly losing vigor and genetic diversity, though its priest-class possess a spaceship capable of faster-than-light travel, which can take them to interstellar settlements. One such settlement, Kamah, is an ocean world with three islands and is the destination for newly ripened Hive-Mothers. Another settlement, Chud-Loo, is a desert world where exiled dissidents eke out a precarious life under harsh conditions.
The alien Qu’uda send a spaceship of their own, the Star-Seeker, to investigate the source of the signals from Chud-Loo. Not recognizing the Qu’uda ship, the settlement’s asteroid defense system blasts it with a powerful laser. The surviving Qu’uda crew seek revenge and plunge the ship into Chud-Loo, rigging their fusion drive to explode on impact.
The existence of the unexpected Hoo-Lii civilization alarms the Qu’uda. They build a deep-space radio monitor and pick up signals coming from yet another star system - Earth. This is the reason the Qu’uda sent their gigantic spacecraft to investigate the solar system, where the ship was stranded in an unstable orbit…
Back on their home world of Hool, Suh-Joh’s scientists detect the faint EMP of a fusion weapon, which originated in the solar system. They send a faster-than-light ship to investigate, thinking this might be the race that destroyed Chud-Loo. When the Hoo-Lii reach the solar system, they set course for Earth, as does the Qu’uda asteroid ship. The Hoo-Lii are caught between the Qu’uda vessel and the human space station. The Qu’uda attack and damage the Hoo-Lii ship, making it lose much of its air and water.
Trying to open communications with the Hoo-Lii, the humans send a gift of water—which the Hoo-Lii consider a symbolic gesture of a species submitting to them as a servant class. The Hoo-Lii depart, promising to return … to lead the humans.
Chapter One
Bilik Pudjata watched the long thin stream of blue-white fire etch its way across the night sky.
It was the fusion drive of the Egg-that-Flies fleeing from its orbit around the Earth. By the next night it had disappeared, lost among the stars.
Bilik had mixed feelings at the sight. It meant his former identity as an alien Qu’uda had truly died. From now on, he would be Billy Potato, a man of Earth, belonging to a new community, with a new home and a new identity.
Mata ChaLik BuMaru felt the surge of acceleration—and something else. The ship—the Egg-that-Flies—was shaking.
“What is that vibration?” The memory of the catastrophic explosion that had stranded them in orbit came back. No, not again.
The holographic image bulged. The squat face and scarred head crest of KaLik DuGan appeared. He was the ship’s engineer and its battle tactics master.
“I am analyzing the vibration.” He bobbed his head in respect. “It’s in the drive system. I am also investigating its impact upon structural members, whether it poses any immediate danger.”
“Danger?” Mata ChaLik felt the claw of fear rip int o his guts. “What kind of danger?” He recalled how those savage dry-land vermin, the humans, had damaged the shuttle on its last trip to Earth, when it brought back the propulsion tube parts made on the planet’s surface.
“Danger to the thrust transfer structure.” KaLik referred to the large metal tunnel extending from the rear of the Egg-that-Flies through the fuel tank to the forward section containing their living quarters.
“We cannot shut the drive down while this close to the planetary body.”
Mata ChaLik believed the propulsion system repairs would let them de-orbit this planet and go to the cold safety of the outer reaches of the system, to gather supplies and make repairs. During the stress and fear of the four long years they had been stranded in orbit, many of the crew had changed gender. “Can we maintain thrust?”
“I don’t know. If only Bilik were here. He would know.”
“He isn’t. Just get me an answer as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, Mata ChaLik BuMaru.” KaLik wobbled his head crest submissively. “As soon as possible, leader of the Defenders of Qu’uda.” His image vanished.
The course depiction of the Egg-that-Flies expanded. A yellow line paralleled the red course projection. A string of velocity parameters appeared.
If our drive system continues to work, thought Mata ChaLik, we will get away from this cursed world, away from its savage natives. “DalChik DuJuga,” he called.
“Yes?” DalChik answered through the comm-net, her voice pitched higher than normal. She had dropped an egg, which had been sent to the planet below. She’d openly spoken of her worries of the fate that might have befallen her only chance for an offspring. “What is it now?”
“Retrieve plans and specifications for a Bird-of-War. That is an order. Once we refuel, we shall seek a source of materials to build weapons for our return to this planet.”
Battle, he thought, is more exciting than mating. “We must exterminate those dry-land vermin, the humans.”
“That has not been discussed by the Keepers-of-the-Egg,” DalChik said. “You cannot run this ship as if it were a unit in the Defenders, not without the Keepers’ consent.”
Prior to departing Qu’uda, the crew had agreed important decisions would be decided in a meeting represented by all factions—including the Keepers-of-the-Egg—to ensure a consensus would be maintained in major decisions.
“During times of danger, when battle is imminent,” Mata ChaLik said. “I do not need consent of the Keepers. The Earth creatures created a condition of war. Therefore, I am in command.” He felt his head crest engorge and grow erect.
“We shall see about that.” DalChik’s image disappeared from the comm-net link.
KaLik DuGan looked at the analytical model. Why, he wondered, does the propulsion tube vibrate? There was something within the drive system. Yet the fuel flow was constant without any pulsation, and the magnetic field … Yes! There were variations in the magnetic field that contained the plasma.
For a moment, the talon of fright touched him.
If the magnetic containment failed, the tremendous energy of the drive system would be released instantaneously to smash against the stern of their ship and leave them derelict, drifting in space.
Great Egg, he thought. Please, not that again.
“Magnetic containment system analysis, performance parameter comparison,” he said.
Figures scrolled through the air before him; almost all were within normal bounds. The only one out of specification was the containment field itself, which meant the tube was the cause.
How can that be? Bilik Pudjata made all nine sections at the same time, in the same place, from the same material…
“Replacement propulsion tube material data,” KaLik DuGan called to the computer. “Present data by each section of tube as received. Compare elemental analysis for minority components, organize by section.” The numbers winked into appearance in nine columns.
KaLik DuGan stared at the data.
The iron in each section of the propulsion tube had slightly different magnetic properties. Would that make the vibration? As he ran the analysis, it became clear the magnetic field variation made the plasma expand and contract at slightly different rates during its passage through the propulsion tube. Further analyses showed the iron would, sooner or later, fatigue and fail.
After multiple analyzes, he felt confident it would last long enough to reach the outer cometary belt. His fear faded.
The prudent course of action was to replace the propulsion tube, KaLik DuGan thought.
“Mata ChaLik BuMaru,” KaLik DuGan called. “I have answers to your questions.”
Mata ChaLik’s image appeared. He was in front of the trunk of a spindly Podu tree that trailed vines dripping water. It was like an erotic setting used for mating. “Yes?” he asked, head crest quivering.
“If this is not a convenient time.” KaLik DuGan had heard rumors of Mata ChaLik torturing a crewmember into a gender change for mating. He had no desire to be part of that.
“Tell me,” Mata ChaLik said. “What have you found out?”
KaLik DuGan explained the problem and his conclusions.
“Can you make a replacement tube?” asked Mata ChaLik.
“Yes,” KaLik DuGan said. “As long as we have thrust to produce gravity, we can handle molten iron. We can set up a casting facility within the thrust transfer structure. Once we commence the casting operation, it will be isolated from the living area since it has to be open to the vacuum of space.”
“Start at once.”
Chapter Two
“Mr. MacPherson.” A horseman dressed in the familiar brown garb of a Clan soldier reined in his horse. “There’s trouble out west. There’s a rebellion in the Fed territories.” He stood stiffly straight and gave a military salute as though Taylor MacPherson were still the Clan’s War Leader.
“What’s going on?” Taylor stepped off the sidewalk onto Front Street.
Taylor was a slender man, with gray hair and bright blue eyes set in a long face. He’d just left his laboratory in Marting Hall, a Victorian style building, three stories of ornate gray sandstone in the old Baldwin-Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Mossy sidewalks beneath stately maples and oaks connected the widely scattered buildings of the campus. Taylor had resigned his position as War Leader to restore the university.
The horseman slid off his horse. “A mob marched into Fremont and caught the garrison by surprise.” He paused to catch his breath. “The mob killed at least a half dozen. Then they marched to the center of town an’ burned the courthouse an’ strung up a couple of merchants. They claimed they was righting a wrong.” The horseman straightened as he added, “Sir.”
“You’d better get this to the Council right away.” Taylor was conscious he no longer had a role in government. “Thanks for letting me know, but this is Council business.” He pointed north to River Road. “Go that way. The Hill is about two miles.” He directed the horseman to the Clan’s administrative center.
