Ricket (Star Watch Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Foreword

  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

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Other books by MWM

  Chris Kennedy

  RICKET

  Book Two of the Star Watch series

  Written By

  Mark Wayne McGinnis

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2015 by Mark Wayne McGinnis All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design by:

  Eren Arik

  Edited by:

  Lura Lee Genz

  Mia Manns

  Published by:

  Avenstar Productions

  E-book ver :

  ISBN-10: 0-9861098-4-3

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9861098-4-3

  To join Mark’s mailing list, jump to

  http://eepurl.com/bs7M9r

  Visit Mark Wayne McGinnis at

  http://www.markwaynemcginnis.com

  Foreword

  Quick Tip:

  For those using web-enabled e-readers, or have access to the web via a PC

  you can now refer back to the author’s website for illustrated floor

  plans of The Lilly’s and the Minian’s various decks and compartments,

  as well as those of another vessel called the Parcical.

  More ship diagrams will be added over time. Throughout this book,

  the various little icons (such as the one below) are provided as a quick reminder of this

  option—simply click on the ship icon to jump to the Explore The Ships website diagrams:

  Chapter 1

  CAP-RIM Star System

  Decommissioned Spacecraft Repository

  __________________________

  “She’s slowing and entering the shipyard, Captain,” McNeil reported.

  Jason knew the captain of that vessel would do just that … it was a smart move. Hundreds of decommissioned freighters and tankers, and just about every other type of space-faring vessel, were marooned in this graveyard for the old, obsolete, and discarded.

  Jason said, “Minian … announce General Quarters, ship-wide.”

  He heard the Minian’s AI over the PA, telling the ship’s crew to report to their respective battle stations.

  “I recommend we slow down too, Cap … he’s not worth the risk,” Gunny said.

  Jason ignored her. “Helm, are we gaining on her?”

  “Yes, sir … we’ve gained on her … but not by much.”

  “Kick it up faster, McNeil!” Jason ordered, giving a quick, over-the-shoulder glance toward Orion.

  Jason watched the overhead display’s three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view, as massive structures passed by them at an alarming speed. “If you have to, enhance forward shields.”

  “Already at max,” Orion said, not hiding her unease at the new situation.

  “Captain, the Carrion’s headed for that space between the mining vessels,” McNeil said. “She’ll be boxed in until she comes out the far side.”

  Jason saw it, too. The Carrion, less than half the tonnage of the Minian, was headed for an opening between four monstrous, five-mile-long ships. It would be a tight squeeze for the Carrion, but definitely a tighter fit for the Minian, double the other ship’s width. “Go above the mining ships and catch the Carrion on the other side. Kick it up, Helm!”

  McNeil brought the nose of the Minian up, with mere feet to spare. “Our ass is dragging; we’re going to lose some paint on this one, sir.”

  “Shields are holding,” Orion added.

  The bridge shuddered and everyone grabbed something to hold on to. The Carrion was now hidden from view and, instinctively, Orion inserted a logistical, icon-based segment to the display above them.

  “Shit!” Jason said as he watched the alien battleship emerge from the other side, immediately turning away from the Minian’s current trajectory.

  “We’re going to have to slow some in order to make the next course change, sir,” McNeil said.

  Jason stayed quiet. He didn’t want to lose that ship. Captain Mar Oswaldo, known as Captain Oz, was an amazing tactician. Jason had done a little research on the Darion Cartel’s most famous captain. He’d avoided capture by the Alliance, the Craing, and numerous other independent militaries for at least eight years now. Captain Oz was like Earth’s famed Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, the First World War German flying ace. Oz had never been defeated in space combat. It was rumored he’d destroyed over two hundred adversary ships—from small destroyers to a Craing dreadnaught caught off-guard. Jason knew, firsthand, that was not an easy feat.

  Currently, Captain Oz was farther from home than was typical. The recent defeat of the Craing Empire had, no doubt, contributed to these more enterprising, far-reaching attacks. Jason had to give the Darion Cartel, the planetary system of thirty united planets that Oz was commissioned by, the credit. The cartel operated within its own laws. They sneered at the term space piracy, since they only invaded sections of space that were, in their view, within their own spatial borders. And that was true: At one time there was a Darion Empire—spanning close to two hundred light-years in distance—but that was a millennium ago. Just as the Roman Empire on Earth crumbled away over time—so had the Darion Empire.

  But ten years ago, things started to change. There was a shift in attitudes among both government and populace … undoubtedly brought on from the Craing’s invasion. With the Darion Cartel a mere shell of what the Darion Empire had been a millennium earlier, the question arose … if the Darion Empire had stayed strong—stayed together, would the Craing have been able to defeat them so easily? A reunification of mind and spirit had forged a fresh emergence of patriotism. Countering the Darion Cartel demanded more and more Craing military resources and an abundance of Craing vessels were destroyed
. Eventually, the Craing simply learned to keep to the periphery of the planetary system and leave the Darion Empire alone for the most part.

  Now, the Darion Cartel was a force to be reckoned with. Methodically, the cartel kept expanding its borders in all directions. Their military was growing, too … as quickly as they conquered an adversary they recommissioned that enemy’s vessels into their own fleet. The single biggest contributing factor to the cartel’s recent success was Captain Oz. Capturing him, or, if necessary, killing him, would provide a significant blow to the Darion Cartel’s growing momentum.

  Star Watch was given carte blanche to handle the audacious Captain Oz as Jason deemed necessary. But Jason’s current, near-frenzied pursuit of Oz was far more personal. Two weeks earlier to the day, a small planetary system located at the edge of Sector 22—called Airigo 5—was attacked by Captain Oz. Tranquil, peace-loving individuals were unnecessarily killed in the thousands when the Carrion strafed numerous government buildings within the capital city. It was an unnecessary assault since no resistance—no military force—had ever been rallied.

  But the real reason behind Jason’s consuming hatred for Captain Oz was the subsequent death of General Taft. An emissary from Earth, General Jonathan Taft had been a close friend of his father’s, as well as his own. An elderly man, he’d become more of a diplomat than a military man at that late point in his life. He’d been dispatched to Airigo 5 to open up negotiations for an Allied presence, a new space station, within their system. When Jason relayed the sad news to his father, now living back in San Bernardino, California at the family scrapyard, via video link—his father broke down. The show of such strong feelings took Jason completely by surprise. Typically, the admiral was anything but emotional … the news had hit him hard. His father made one simple request … “Get the one responsible, Jason … get him and kill him.”

  “We’ve got a visual on the Carrion, Cap,” Orion said.

  The Carrion had entered a particularly dense section of space, holding only a few large vessels, but many others smaller in size, like cruisers, transport vessels, and unmanned drone ships.

  “She’s making a path,” Orion said.

  The Carrion’s plasma cannons were now firing non-stop—blasting obstacles into small fragments.

  “We’ll need a bigger swath than what he’s made in order to follow him, Orion.”

  “I’m on it,” she said.

  Jason felt the subtle vibration from the Minian’s big guns as they came to life. Above, on the overhead display, the hulls of lifeless crafts were exploding, one after another, all around them. They were finally making headway—consistently closing in on the smaller ship.

  What do we have here? Jason asked himself, his brow furrowed.

  The Carrion had done the unexpected: She’d slowed and come about.

  “She’s positioning for a fight,” Orion said. “Oz must know that he’s overwhelmingly out-gunned … what the hell’s he thinking?”

  “Full stop, Helm,” Jason said, rising to his feet, his eyes glued to the display.

  “I don’t like this,” Orion said, her voice a mere whisper.

  “Me, neither … Get us out of here! Phase-shift—”

  Jason’s words were cut short by multiple high-yield explosions impacting both sides of the Minian. Off in the distance, on their one side, were the remnants of a fractured space station; on the other was a massive space-crane. Both gargantuan structures had been fitted with plasma weaponry … a whole lot of weaponry. How the Minian’s sensors had missed seeing them was just one of Jason’s concerns.

  “We’ve got missiles coming in from a whole lot of other ships now, Cap.”

  But Jason already knew this, having seen the approach of too many small red icons to count up on the overhead display. Where did they all come from?

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many missiles directed at any one target … us!” Orion added.

  The Minian shook and jolted with each repetitive explosion impacting on her shields. “Phase-shift system offline, Captain,” McNeil shouted over the noise.

  “Bring all guns active, Gunny! Shred anything within ten thousand miles of here.”

  “Guns are faltering … shields holding, but falling fast … they’re down to thirty percent,” Orion said.

  Lieutenant Commander Perkins, the XO, rushed onto the bridge, looking rattled, but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut. He took a seat behind the command chair.

  Jason watched as the open space around the Minian became filled with thousands of streaks of bright green and blue plasma fire. It had been a planned trap, obviously. The firepower assembled here was at a level he didn’t think possible. It must have taken them many weeks of preparation.

  “Starboard drive just went offline … now the port drives, too … we’re not moving any time soon,” McNeil said.

  But Jason was only half-listening. On the display, he watched as the Carrion leisurely turned one hundred and eighty degrees on her axis—the ship’s drives coming alive in a burst of white-hot energy as she proceeded to leave the area.

  “Incoming message from the Carrion, Captain … just one word,” Seaman Gordon nervously said from the comms station.

  Jason waited for it.

  “Gotcha.”

  Jason gritted his teeth. I’m going to get that son of a bitch if it’s the last thing I do.

  “Hull breaches reported on decks five, eight and twenty-three.”

  “Come on … take out those guns, Gunny!” Jason ordered, his frustration rising.

  “They’ve erected shields in front of both the space station and the crane. There’s no way we’re going to bring them down before our own shields are gone, Captain.”

  Jason didn’t answer for several moments. Then he turned toward Orion: “There’s no way they’re able to shield anything other than the inward-facing sections of those two structures … right? As is … the amount of power that would be required is staggering.” He didn’t wait for an answer, facing Perkins. “XO, get Grimes and her pilots dispatched to their fighters. Make sure that she has them phase-shift directly from the flight bay, to ensure they’re out of the line of fire. We’ll take out those guns from their backsides.”

  “I suggest we deploy the fighter drones as well, sir,” Perkins said.

  “Agreed.”

  Between the seventy-five Caldurian fighters, and the three hundred unmanned drone fighters, the firepower—soon to be brought to bear on the far side of the space station on one side, and the crane on their other side—was profound. The main question Jason pondered: Were they deployed before the Minian’s shields were completely depleted?

  All eyes were on the overhead display. New, bright yellow icons were now added to the mix. Like bees swarming, they converged on the two targets.

  “Shields failing fast, Captain. Ten … now down to eight percent,” Orion said, her voice ominously calm.

  Jason knew that was not a good sign—she sounded resigned to an inevitable fate. “Don’t throw in the towel just yet, Gunny,” he said, with more gusto than he thought himself capable of.

  “Incoming hail, Captain. It’s Lieutenant Grimes.”

  “Put her through, Seaman.”

  “There are shields placed at the far side of the station, too, Captain. Not like those on the inward side, facing the Minian, but enough to hinder our attack.”

  Jason shook his head. Was it really going to end like this? Damn! He couldn’t believe he’d been so easily bested by Oz … he had to give him his due … he’d certainly covered all the bases. If they got out of this alive, he’d never let that happen again. He contemplated an abandon ship order but there would be too little time, now. It was do or die …

  “I’ve directed the drone fighters to enter the space station from a small, unshielded opening at the bottom. Too small for our manned fighters, but I think the drones can manage it.”

  “How about the crane? What are your pilots reporting over there?”

&nb
sp; “Slow going on that one, sir.”

  Orion cut in, “Cap, the Minian’s guns did the trick. The crane has been neutralized.”

  Jason confirmed the good news with his own eyes and, sure enough, the big space crane was completely destroyed.

  “All our guns are now directed toward the space station. Its shields are falling fast,” Orion said.

  “Get those drone-fighters out of there and have our pilots back off.”

  Jason sat back down in the command chair and watched as the space station suddenly went quiet. It too had been neutralized. “Any crew or pilot casualties?” Jason asked.

  “None, Cap … but the damage to the Minian is substantial.”

  “Get repair crews started immediately … get Ricket and Granger to help with the drives. Nix that,” Jason said, suddenly remembering: “Ricket is on a field trip to the Mansan Core system for the day. Perkins can work with Granger in Engineering instead. I also want continuous perimeter patrols by our fighters. Come on, XO, you’re with me … let’s go check out the damaged areas.”

  Chapter 2

  Mansan Core System

  Planet Eriok; Port City

  __________________________

  Ricket sat quietly on the corner of a closed equipment transport locker, one of five he had arrived with. He and the others were situated beneath a canvas tarp. A mild breeze kept the bright blue fabric above them flapping in a constant state of agitation.

  “Unfortunately, the physics do not support what you are attempting to do here, I’m afraid,” Ricket said, doing his best not to insult Silgin Burak, the Port City engineer. “Perhaps if we take a step back and reevaluate what it is you’re trying to accomplish—”

  Burak cut him off, “No! No stepping back bullshit …” he said, making no attempt to hide the sneer on his meaty round face. The humanoid city worker was short and sweating profusely, prompting Ricket to breathe strictly through his mouth to avoid smelling the man’s sour body odor.