Deadly Dream - Ryvenbark's Saga 2
By Gray Lanter
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About this ebook
Major Ryvenbark and his team discover a strange sphere, five hundred miles in diameter, drifting through the Terlor system, and Major Ryvenbark has a strong hunch that this mysterious sphere has more than just a little to do with the destruction of the Terlorian planets. What he isn't sure of is whether he and his men will be able to get inside this thing – and, of course, what they will find if they do get inside it – in order to prevent the destruction of even more planets... but he knows that he has to risk everything to try.
In Deadly Dream, you'll be taken on a journey that goes beyond the laws of time and space and bends the very fabric of reality. On this roller-coaster sci-fi ride through the wildest conjuring a talented sci-fi writer can come up with, you won't be able to put the book down from the moment you start reading until you reach the final page.
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Deadly Dream - Ryvenbark's Saga 2 - Gray Lanter
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Chapter 1
It is said that Thomas Edison thought the phone he invented – a technological marvel of his day – was so profoundly annoying that he refused to have one in his house.
When the j-phone – a technological marvel of our day – buzzed softly in my ear, I thought it was profoundly annoying too. For a moment the ears heard the soft, gentle notes of ‘ Beautiful Dreamer’ . If you’re with your special dreamer – and I was waking up in bed with Astrid by my side –, it should evoke a wistful smile and a warm feeling.
Except the call came at 3 a.m. and I had been sleeping contentedly. The lovely song just made me grouchy. I am an expert in dozens of weapons and, usually, it doesn’t pay to make a weapons expert grouchy.
Mentally I turned off the song, then tossed the covers off and barefooted to the study where the screen and my desk were. Screen doesn’t do justice to the techno-desk set-up. Let’s just say it was another technological marvel of our time. Of course, I was getting rather tired of technological marvels. I was thinking of a rustic, simple life when Belen appeared on the screen.
Should I say good morning or good evening, Logan?
It’s not good anything,
I said, my voice reflecting my drowsiness. Don’t you keep regular hours?
She answered something, but I was so groggy the words flew by me. In the distance, waves lapped at the shore. Astrid and I had the windows open on the resort house where we were staying. Two light purple moons lighted the waves and the beach. Another wave crashed on the shore.
Sorry for the interruption Logan, but I need you.
No, you don’t. You have a huge corporate empire. You can find someone else to do the job, whatever the job is.
Aren’t you curious about why I called you in the middle of the night?
No.
Neither am I.
I looked up at Astrid. She was clothed in a mid-thigh length blue bathrobe and leaned on the door, arms crossed. Her blue eyes didn’t look groggy like mine. They flashed anger. Lips curled with indignation. We were on vacation and didn’t expect to be bothered. Astrid is beautiful and sweet, gentle and loving. Except when she’s woken up from a sound sleep.
Hang up, honey,
she said.
Can’t really do that. Officially we are still on Belen’s payroll,
I said.
We can quit.
That’s always an option,
I answered soothingly.
I can understand your annoyance and I apologize for the call, but this couldn’t wait,
Belen said. It is an emergency. A security matter.
I frowned. The warlike race of Creagers had, about two months before, invaded Federation space and inflicted severe damage on the populations of two outlying planets. Although they are bipeds, Creagers look like the second cousins of Gila monsters. You don’t want to see them in a dark alley. For that matter, you don’t want to see them in the bright daylight either.
The Federation scrambled our forces and in a recent battle had driven them back. Now our forces were planning a counterattack that would penetrate deep into their home solar system.
Belen, most of the Federation force is repelling the Creager invasion. You don’t need my help with that.
This is not about the Creagers.
It isn’t?
She shook her head. This is something different entirely. As you noted, the Federation forces are tied up in a war. They don’t have a lot of ships and men to spare. Because you are always so creative, as well as being courageous, the Federation thinks it can use you.
She smiled. So they asked me to ask you to help them out.
What has the Federation done for me lately?
Paid you a lot of money for the last assignment.
They can pay somebody else this time. I won’t mind.
Neither will I,
Astrid said. Let’s go back to bed.
Belen showed a frown. She is an attractive woman with brown hair and stunning brown eyes. Usually she’s smiling. She’s so vivacious she can make jesters look gloomy. But tonight she wasn’t smiling, much less laughing. Her eyes looked troubled and the shoulders slumped, as if she had the weight of the world on them, or the weight of the Federation as the case may be. Usually, the tiny lines around the eyes and lips were almost invisible. But tonight they appeared to have deepened. Belen, with her corporate empire, is almost a nation unto herself; basic government without the bureaucracy. But she has a strong loyalty to the Federation. I wondered if another alien race had launched another invasion. That might get me to put on a Morganthal military uniform again. Although I’d had one or two minor differences with officials, I have a strong loyalty to the Federation too.
We need you two,
Belen said. I know you have disbanded the Raiders. But we have a major security problem. The Federation needs you to get your company back together. We’ve got a situation we’ve never seen before or even dreamed of. Most of the Federation ships and men are on the Creager frontier, preparing to invade their solar system and end the threat to defenseless planets. But we’ve got another problem coming from the other side of the galaxy. It’s dangerous, and Federation officials agreed we need Ryvenbark’s Raiders. They have the best chance to complete the mission.
OK, what exactly is going on?
I said, uncomplaining.
Are you aware of the Terlor System?
Vaguely. Long way away from here. Three planets. Inhabited. Haven’t had too much contact with them because they are so far away. Exchanged a few ambassadors and the races seem like very nice people. Had no trouble with them. Let’s see… hasn’t one of them, the Oreganians, established a small diplomatic office on Earth?
Belen sighed. Yes, and that small office is all that remains of the Oreganians.
That woke me up.
The planet is…
Gone. It’s a lump of dirt orbiting a sun. That’s all. No life. No Oreganians. No animals. No plants. No bugs. The planet was obliterated.
So we now have an enemy who can and will destroy a planet of innocents?
I said.
Not just a planet and not just the Oreganians. There is currently no life – no life at all – on any of the three planets in the Terlor System. All is ashes and rubble. Whatever came at us, Logan, came from another galaxy. They sent us their best and they’re coming this way. So we’re sending them our best: Ryvenbark’s Raiders.
Chapter 2
Ten minutes later, a shirt and regular pants had replaced my pajama togs. I had washed my face and Astrid put on some coffee as the equivalent of orange juice. I sipped the coffee as I sat down before the screen again.
So, do we have a hint about who or what hit the Terlor System?
We have a little more than a hint. Just beyond the system there is a sphere five hundred-mile big. Maybe a hundred miles thick. It looks like a long, solid rock. We suspect it may be connected with the destruction.
A rock? Since when has a rock attacked someone?
"This is more than just a rock. We don’t believe it is from our galaxy. It is made of a substance that