Parador: Tales from the Juggernaut, #2

By Peter A Dixon

The exciting sequel to The Juggernaut.

 

Twelve years after the failed colony mission which claimed her parent's lives, Tila Vasquez discovered an impossible ship buried deep within the Juggernaut.

There she found hidden data which revealed that there was more to the story of the doomed mission than she knew - that perhaps anyone knew.

Now, these secrets have taken her, along with her friends Malachi and Ellie, to Parador, one of the wealthiest and most powerful planets within the Commonwealth systems. Here, decisions are made on trade and business which affect the lives of billions.

And sometimes the life of one.

On Parador, Tila will find that both new friends and new enemies stand in their way. There will be new lessons to learn and new secrets to uncover. But will Tila be able to tell the difference before it's too late?

And besides, there are some who will do anything to keep their secrets hidden...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter A Dixon
• Release date: Jun 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393371496

Peter A Dixon

Peter A Dixon has always been a fan of action and adventure stories, and science fiction and fantasy books, movies and TV shows. His first book, The Juggernaut, grew from a seed planted fifteen years ago, about a city in space built from the wrecks of hundreds of spaceships. He believes heroes should always beat villains, thinks music provides the greatest inspiration, and writes to tell the stories he wants to live. Peter is based in London, but divides his time between New England and the UK (old England - although over here we just call it England). Learn more, stay up to date and get exclusive discounts at www.peteradixon.com

Book preview

ONE

The warning lights at the Jenova-Celato jump beacon sprang to life. They pulsed, slowly at first but then rapidly as the Bohr’s-field event horizon coalesced.

Bright flashes of blue and white were accompanied by invisible burst transmissions on a hundred different frequencies, all broadcasting the same warning: jump incoming.

The curtain of stars shimmered and twisted in upon itself. For one infinitesimal moment two star systems appeared to occupy the same space – for one infinitesimal moment, it did – then reality remade itself and twelve spacecraft hung in space where before there were none.

One by one, eleven ships lit up their main drives and began their slow transit of the Jenova star system. The small fleet gradually broke apart. Each vessel left alone to chart its own course and lock their destinations into navigation systems.

One ship remained behind. A battered, box-like craft of burnt orange with a stubby horn of sensors protruding from its nose. It drifted by itself five hundred kilometres starward of the nexus beacon.

On board, Ellie was arguing with Malachi.

‘That wasn’t fourteen minutes! It wasn’t even fourteen seconds. It was instant.’

‘It only seemed that way to us,’ Malachi said. He kept his gaze on the console to avoid being distracted by another question he had already answered a dozen times. The short-range scanner embedded in the console blossomed to life. The projected vectors of their former companions traced their colourful lines across the display. Each curve would ultimately intercept some distant rendezvous point; a planet, a space station or even one of the other two jump beacons where they would continue their journey to the Kendal star system, or to Praxis, which was unlikely. Very little legitimate traffic had cause to go to Praxis.

Only two of the other ships appeared to be heading for Parador.

Ellie was still adamant. ‘I timed it!’

Malachi drummed a fingertip on the ship’s chronometers.

‘Look, this is local system time. This one is Celato system time. See the difference? Our chronometers are reset to local time by the beacons when we arrive.’

He could see Ellie was still struggling with the concept. Malachi knew his own brain could get tied up in knots thinking about the weird physics involved in instantaneous travel between the stars, but there was no reason for Ellie to know that. She didn’t need to know he didn’t really get it either. Not really. He simply had a basic knowledge she didn’t, and a familiarity with concepts of physics she never had to think about.

Without a trace of meanness in his voice he said, ‘Ellie, you’re a fantastic pilot, but a lousy astronavigator.’

‘Well, you’re a great engineer, but a lousy pilot,’ she shot back.

Malachi offered Ellie his hand. ‘Agreed.’

She shook it with mock seriousness. ‘Okay, I believe you, even if it makes no sense.’

Malachi offered the same hand to Tila, who had watched this conversation with folded arms and, unsurprisingly, a frown. ‘Agreed?’ he said.

Tila swatted his hand away. ‘Now we are all friends again, can we, Mal, chart our course to Parador? That is why we came, remember? Or have you forgotten that in the last few minutes?’

‘Seconds,’ said Ellie, and playfully poked Malachi in the ribs. Malachi sighed theatrically before he answered Tila.

‘The computer’s plotting the course now. Our little runabout can’t do the calculations as fast as those other ships.’ He pointed at the quickly receding ships they could still see through the cockpit.

Tila leaned over the colourful arcs stretching across the scanner display. She traced the lines with her fingertips.

‘Wouldn’t it save time if we followed one of them?’

‘It’s not as simple as that. We have to calculate our route based on our own thrust and mass, and we don’t know exactly where those ships are heading. This ship is good enough for flying around the Juggernaut but a cross-system journey like this is more complicated, so we’ll take the most efficient route we can.’

‘Will that take long?’ Tila was already growing impatient again as she fell back into her seat.

‘Not once we’re underway. You’re lucky we came when we did. Parador’s orbit is close to us this time of year. We should be there in less than a day.’

‘A day?!’ exclaimed Ellie.

‘Hey, it could be worse! If we were really going to Mirador, like I told my father, we could be stuck sitting in here for at least two days.’

Ellie grumbled something about it taking too long.

‘Hey, I’m a great engineer, remember?’

‘Well then, it’s a good thing we’re not going to Mirador,’ said Tila, pushing the memory of that lie from her mind. They would have to deal with those repercussions later, but for now it was light-years behind them.

Before them was a new star, new planets and hopefully, thought Tila, answers to old questions.

FOUR PLANETS ORBITED the G-type yellow dwarf star that was Jenova. Only three were inhabited.

Terador occupied the smallest orbit. It was a perfectly liveable world if you could stand the heat. Few could. Even the poles were hotter than some equators.

Next was Barador, an almost lifeless world of grey rock and poisonous gas. Industry had found a home here in the plentiful mineral and gas mines of the planet, but it was no place to settle.

Third from the sun was Parador, and like most third planets in the Commonwealth it was considered the place to live. For as long as anyone could remember, the third planet was most often favoured by settlers because it evoked the memory of earth, but a third planet which had a yellow dwarf as its sun, and the approximate mass of humanity’s first home meant that it was the proverbial cherry on the astronomical cake.

Superstitions existed even here, and this favoured status was why Parador had always been the most desirable of the three populated worlds of the Jenova star system. It was also why it had, in time, become the wealthiest and the most powerful.

Finally, there was the fourth planet – Mirador. A huge world with a rich, natural biosphere. It had been settled and been augmented with plants and wildlife seeded from earth. Almost half as big again as Parador, its low-density core meant that Mirador’s gravitational pull was almost earth-normal nevertheless.

At this time of year, Barador and Terador were on the opposite side of Jenova to the Celato beacon. Mirador was visible at this distance, but only as a white half-circle facing the sun. Parador, a smaller dot of pale yellow was, despite its lower orbit, presently the closest planet to the Celato beacon.

As well as the four planets, Jenova was home to several moons and a dozen artificial satellites. Orbital habitats, military bases, research stations and shipyards dotted the system, but none of these held any interest for Tila. She had focused in on one city, on one planet, that she felt sure held the answers to her one question: what really happened to the colony mission?

But they were still many hours from their destination, and as alert as she was after their narrow escape from the Juggernaut, Tila was wise enough to know that she should rest while she could.

‘I’ll be in the back,’ she announced to the others. Tila left the cockpit and stepped into the rear cabin. She folded a narrow bunk down from the wall, and sat on it, testing it for softness, of which it had very little, before lying down. Tila could feel the hard plastic refusing to yield through the worn padding and grimaced as she tried to find a position which would allow her to relax.

Still, no one said this would be a comfortable adventure.

TWO

By the time the Rhino had begun its descent through the thin upper atmosphere of Parador, the sun was already bringing dawn to the continent below. Ellie gripped her seat as supersonic winds shook and rattled and howled against the little craft. The blackness of space evaporated like a dream as they flew deeper into the world.

Stars faded into a whitening sky. The hull of the ship glowed under the intense friction of the air. The sky changed again from white to blue, and far below them fluffy clouds of silver-grey gleamed in the fresh morning light.

The dense, lower atmosphere slowed their ship even more, and their flight smoothed. Malachi flew the ship lower. Now they could make out features of the landscape beneath them. Fuzzy patches of green and blue came into sharp focus.

A thin yellow strip of coastline divided land and sea, the blue of the ocean now flecked with the white of cresting waves. Further north, the coastline disappeared beneath snow and ice, and the rough, undulating surface of the sea gave way to sheets of pure blinding white where they reflected the glory of the new day’s sun.

The trio watched in awe, drinking in the magnificent sight of a sunrise seen from ten thousand metres up.

Tila spoke quietly, needing to move forward but not wanting to break the moment. ‘Where can we land?’

Malachi forced his attention back to the controls. A soon as they had entered the atmosphere, the Rhino’s planetary navigation computer had begun sucking in data from local satellites and surface navigation stations. He flicked through the options.

‘There’s some hills or small mountains north of the city. That would be a good place to land. The commercial spaceport is on the south, so I think this way we can avoid local traffic.’

‘What’s the city called? Is it far?’ said Tila.

‘Caldera. And it’s not far if you don’t mind walking, but I’ll get us as close as I think is safe.’

Ellie, hypnotised by the view outside the ship, said nothing. She had never seen anything so beautiful.

MALACHI WINCED AND pressed a palm to one ear. Tila wiggled a finger in her own ear and Ellie squeezed her eyes and swallowed. It didn’t work on land, either, and her ears popped painfully as the pressure seals released. The door hissed, and airtight seals retreated into the door housings.

The door opened, and a new world beckoned.

The sun was a little higher now, and its light, though blinding a short time before, now filtered through the green, leafy canopy above them. It was softened further still by the dissipating early morning mist which surrounded them and filled the valley in which they had landed. Cool air crept into the cabin and hugged their ankles as the warmer air of their ship escaped through the open door. The chirps and whistles of birds, temporarily frightened into silence and now full of righteous anger at their arrival, once again filled the air.

Malachi and gave Ellie a gentle push toward the door. ‘Well, are you going outside?’

‘Is it safe?’

Tila smiled at her caution. ‘It’s safe.’

Ellie stopped at the threshold and held out one hand. Dappled sunlight danced over her fingers, and she felt a warmth she had never experienced before. She could almost feel the light seeping into her fingers. It was a strange thing to feel the cool air around them yet be warmed by a shaft of light. There was a rich quality to the light, and the warmth had a depth and realness to it that was utterly new.

In space, the sun was cold and hard. If you wanted to be warm you turned on a heater and hoped it worked. But here the sunlight was gentle. Soft and welcoming. It was like touching heaven.

Ellie walked with small steps down the short ramp and put her foot on a planet for the first time. Beneath her feet, grass and firm packed earth cushioned her step. Earth, not metal tiles.

The sunlight beamed around her and over her skin. She lifted her eyes to find its source and gasped.

All her life there had been something above her. If she looked up on the Juggernaut, there would be some metal barrier she could not see beyond. Here, there was no limit to what she could see. There were leaves, and branches, and then nothing else but the open sky.

Still inside the ship, Malachi elbowed Tila and pointed at Ellie as she absorbed the scene.

‘What do you think?’ Tila said to Ellie.

‘Do you want to say something profound?’ said Malachi, grinning.

Ellie struggled for the right words.

‘I don’t know. There’s so much... up,’ she said.

Malachi looked at Tila, who looked up at the same sky and shrugged.

‘She’s right, though,’ said Tila.

Malachi cleared the ramp in two quick, heavy footsteps which shook Ellie from her rapture, breaking the spell.

‘Honestly, you are the least romantic people I know. Come on, Ellie, there’s plenty more to see on the way.’

He hefted a pack to his shoulder, ignoring Tila’s offer to carry it instead of her own, smaller backpack. Tila strode down the ramp and onto the damp grass and tapped Ellie on the shoulder. She was still mesmerised by the abundance of green all around. Malachi was last to leave. The ramp folded up behind them, and the door closed.

‘You ready?’ Malachi asked Tila.

She adjusted her pack on her shoulders and nodded.

‘Let’s go.’

They started walking. Malachi flipped open a computer and entered their destination. Local map data danced around the display as the device triangulated their position.

‘Okay, we go south about four kilometres and then we join one of the main roads heading into the city. That will take us another two K. It looks like the financial district is in the north of town.’

‘Four kilometres before we even reach the road?’ said Ellie. ‘That’s forever.’

‘It’s only two and a half miles.’

Ellie looked at him through narrowed eyes. ‘What’s a mile? Is that better? Is it the same? It’s the same, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, it’s the same, but it sounds less.’

‘So let’s go,’ urged Tila. ‘We don’t have all day.’

‘Actually, we do,’ Malachi whispered to Ellie as they followed. ‘People in the city are probably only just waking up now.’

Tila set the pace, driving them forward as fast as she could make them. If it was up to her, she would have them run all the way. They could be there in less than an hour. She suggested this to Malachi after the first half hour of walking, but he rejected the idea.

‘Tila, I can’t run six kilometres! Neither can Ellie. Anyway, what’s the point in rushing? We’ll still be there early, before everyone starts work, and we’re not in so great a rush that we can’t enjoy some time under an open sky, are we?’

Both girls grumbled at this. Ellie because she felt slighted at the claim that she could not run all the way, and Tila because she knew Malachi was right. She was just being impatient.

Thirty minutes later they entered a wild meadow. Their immediate destination, the road heading south into the city, was half a kilometre ahead, but Ellie wanted a break.

‘We’re nearly there,’ Tila said.

‘But we’ve been walking for ages,’ said Ellie. ‘I want a rest.’

‘A few minutes won’t hurt,’ Malachi said to Tila. ‘It’s still early.’

Outvoted, Tila sat, crossed her legs and tore up the grass in violent, but silent, protest. Malachi lay back, closed his eyes to enjoy the morning sun, and ignored the damp seeping into his clothes from the ground. Ellie picked a handful of wild flowers and examined them as if they were jewels under an eyeglass.

Tila watched Ellie as her friend absorbed a thousand new sensations, sights, sounds and smells. For Malachi and herself, they were old friends. Each of them had spent many of their younger years planetside with their respective families. But for Ellie it was all so new.

Tila tried to see the world through Ellie’s eyes. The contrast with the Juggernaut could not be more striking. Here they had bright sunlight instead of low-UV light panels. Here they had fresh air, scented with morning dew and flowers and damp grass. At home, they had filtered air, scented and dried by the process which had led it through a dozen CO² scrubbers, and who knew how many people, before they breathed it.

On the Juggernaut, they could see only as far as the next bulkhead. Here, it felt like they could see forever.

She smiled to herself as Ellie sorted through her treasure. Ellie had pulled a petal from each one and was stroking them against the underside of her chin to feel how soft they were. Tila remembered doing the same thing as a child. Ellie noticed Tila watching her.

‘Don’t they smell amazing?’ said Ellie.

In truth, Tila had never had much time for flowers, but she didn’t want to take anything away from the moment Ellie was enjoying.

Instead Tila nodded and said absently, ‘I’m surprised you haven’t eaten one yet.’

‘You can eat them?’ said Ellie in surprise.

‘Oh! No, I just meant—’ Tila began, but it was too late and Ellie bit off the flower’s head. For one very brief and happy moment the scent of it filled her nostrils. Then the taste introduced itself to her tongue. Without passing through any intermediate stage, Ellie’s expression changed from one of rapture to one of disgust at nature’s harsh betrayal.

She spat out the half-chewed remains and licked her sleeve to rid her tongue of the taste. ‘Oh, that is disgusting!’ She retched.

Malachi, who had been laying on his back and listening behind closed eyes, laughed so hard he began to cough. Tila opened his bag and fished out a water bottle for her unfortunate friend.

‘But it looked so beautiful, and it smelled so wonderful,’ Ellie complained to nature in general.

‘Sorry, Ellie. I guess not everything that looks so sweet is harmless,’ said Tila.

‘Now you tell me!’ Ellie threw the water bottle at Malachi. ‘Stop laughing!’

Malachi managed to regain his composure long enough to wipe a tear from his cheek, and then made eye contact with Tila, who looked at the flowers, and then back at Malachi. He grinned and set the two of them to laughing again.

Ellie scrambled to her feet, indignant, disappointed and angry with the world for not being the way it ought.

‘Come on. I thought you had somewhere to be,’ she said, and marched past them heading for the city.

THREE

Like most cities, Caldera had grown by sprawling slowly across the landscape, filling the contours of the land and taking paths of least resistance.

A normal city, unimpeded by natural barriers, could spread for kilometres, but unlike most cities, Caldera had grown inside the giant crater of a dormant coastal volcano and the mountainous perimeter wall constrained the city into a much smaller place than its many visitors expected.

Caldera had been founded shortly after contact with earth had been lost, but before the civil war had dragged the star systems to the brink of a new dark age. The Commonwealth had been founded on the premise that this must never happen again.

It was the promise of cheap energy released from the depths of the earth by geothermal extractors which held the key to Caldera’s success. In the years after the Fall, something as mundane as reliable energy became the sure foundation on which the wealth and power of Parador would be built.

So the city of Caldera remained small. Parador’s black pearl nestled safely in the landscape.

WHEN TILA, ELLIE AND Malachi reached the main road into the north city they were relieved to discover a footpath alongside the highway. After their trek across country, a paved surface was a welcome relief and made the rest of their journey so much easier, and so much drier.

‘Why was the ground so wet? Was that caused by rain?’ said Ellie as they turned onto the path and began leaving wet, grassy footprints in their wake.

‘I think that was dew, not rain,’ said Malachi.

‘Where did that come from?’

‘Uh... the ground, I think. It gets wet in the morning, right, Tila?’

Tila thought back to childhood lessons, but the only thing she was sure of was that she hated most of them and rarely listened. Life had provided enough important lessons in the last few years, but dew point calculation was not one of them. But it sounded right. Grass was always wet in the morning, wasn’t it?

‘Right,’ she said confidently.

Ellie considered this for the next few steps. ‘So why does it need to rain?’

‘Because of clouds?’ said Tila. She looked to Malachi for help, but Malachi had no manual for this and was equally clueless.

‘Right,’ said Ellie slowly. ‘Neither of you know anything about this, do you?’

‘No,’ said Tila.

‘We don’t get dew on the Juggernaut, Ellie,’ said Malachi.

‘Well now you have something to think about when we get back,’ said Ellie.

THEIR PATH WAS NOT the only route into the north of the city. Further east, to their left, green buoys floated two hundred metres above the ground, funnelling approaching air traffic into orderly lanes. Beyond them red buoys marked out exit lanes, and to the east of them lay the sparkling sea.

The road was noisier than Malachi had expected, and it surprised him to see so many wheeled vehicles in use alongside the regular anti-gravity transports.

Their path had been rising on a gradual incline for some time now, and the rocky hills that lay before them when they started their journey began to rise steeply on each side of the road. The rocky walls of a natural pass had been blasted or carved clear to widen the