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    Bounty Hunter: Octant Chronicles #5
    Bounty Hunter: Octant Chronicles #5
    Bounty Hunter: Octant Chronicles #5
    Ebook299 pages4 hours

    Bounty Hunter: Octant Chronicles #5

    By Charles G. Dyer

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    About this ebook

    Buzz, Meg and Logi decide to put their skills to the test as bounty hunters. Logi wants adventure and she gets it in spades. Buzz wants justice in the Octant - will he ever be satisfied? Meg wants education and a means of testing her military expertise. Will she meet her match? Find out in this thrilling saga on land and in space, where the hunters clash with pirates, pimps, serial killers and slavers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCharles G. Dyer
    Release dateMay 7, 2019
    ISBN9780463914854
    Bounty Hunter: Octant Chronicles #5
    Author

    Charles G. Dyer

    Charles Dyer is a consulting engineer, former senior lecturer and former technical magazine editor. He creates 3D models to help with visualisation and realism in his writing.

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      Book preview

      Bounty Hunter - Charles G. Dyer

      A pirate Falcon attacks a NAG Dragon - Fox 101 to the rescue.

      Bounty Hunter

      Octant Chronicles #5

      CHARLES G. DYER

      Copyright © 2017 Charles G. Dyer

      All rights reserved.

      ISBN: 9780463914854

      License

      Thank you for purchasing this book. Names, characters and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. It remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to purchase their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

      It would be greatly appreciated if you could post a review on the site where you purchased this book. If you have any comments about this book, good or bad, you can write to me at cgd@telkomsa.net.

      NOTE:

      Other books in the Octant Chronicles series are:

      Book 0 – Arrival (Prequel).

      Book 1 - Space Blues.

      Book 2 - Meg's Escape (previously published as Meg).

      Book 3 - Fox 101 Revival (previously published as Fox 101).

      Book 4 - Fresh Start (previously published as The Octant).

      Book 5 - Bounty Hunter.

      Book 6 - Scout’s Dilemma.

      Book 7 - Revenge.

      CONTENTS

      Glossary

      Prologue

      Chapter_One

      Chapter_Two

      Chapter_Three

      Chapter_Four

      Chapter_Five

      Chapter_Six

      Chapter_Seven

      Chapter_Eight

      Chapter_Nine

      Chapter_Ten

      Chapter_Eleven

      Chapter_Twelve

      Chapter_Thirteen

      Chapter_Fourteen

      Chapter_Fifteen

      Chapter_Sixteen

      Chapter_Seventeen

      Chapter_Eighteen

      Chapter_Nineteen

      Chapter_Twenty

      Chapter_Twenty_One

      Chapter_Twenty_Two

      Chapter_Twenty_Three

      Chapter_Twenty_Four

      Chapter_Twenty_Five

      Chapter_Twenty_Six

      About_the_author

      Octant civilian pilot's wings badge.

      Cap badge that Meg designed for Fox Hunting.

      Glossary

      AI - Artificial Intelligence.

      DOSAT - Distortion Of Space And Time. The name of the faster than light engine.

      ETA - Expected time of arrival.

      EVA - Extravehicular activity in space.

      FI - From Inception; usually placed after the year and refers to the standard year when the Octant was first colonised, starting with year 1FI.

      HE - High explosive.

      HUD - Heads up display, either in helmet or somewhere in the cockpit of a vehicle.

      IW - Inter Web or Interstellar Web that is a vast repository of all available knowledge that is accessible to everyone.

      Newtonian - Native of the planet Newton in the Tetratos system where gravity is 7.92m/s².

      Octant - A region of space containing seven occupied solar systems.

      OPS - Octant Police Service.

      Oramese - Native of the planet Orama in the Pentos system where gravity is 12.13m/s².

      OST - Octant Standard Time.

      Prototian - Native of the planet Protos in the Protos system where gravity is 9.92m/s².

      RFID - Radio frequency identification tags in the form of microchips, cards, labels, etc.

      RPM - Revolutions per minute.

      Shivish - Native of the planet Shivan in the Deytos system where gravity is 12.82m/s².

      SI - Superior Intelligence; highly advanced AI.

      Skork - Native of the planet Skorky in the Septos system where gravity is 16.51m/s².

      Tritanese - Native of the planet Tritan in the Tritan system where gravity is 9.81m/s².

      Tulan - Native of the planet Tula in the Ektos system where gravity is 10.76m/s².

      VTOL - Vertical take off and landing type of aircraft or spacecraft.

      Wristpad - Multifunctional PC, communicator, wallet, ID, camera and more.

      ~##~

      Prologue

      Note: If you've read the previous four books in this series, you might want to skip the prologue. It simply repeats the background story of how the Octant was developed.

      ***

      Some time during the Twenty-second Century on Earth, a fleet of four massive interstellar spacecraft was secretly assembled in High Earth Orbit. These were no ordinary ships. Their engines were a cutting edge experiment.

      A consortium of private companies from several countries was pinning their hopes on the success of a bold plan to ensure the perpetuation of the human species. Endless wars and a population of in excess of twelve billion people had caused widespread famine. In addition to which, there were growing concerns about the threat of an astronomical catastrophe in the form of a huge rogue asteroid that many argued was on a collision course with Earth.

      The DOSAT engines held the promise of fulfilling an age-old dream. The ability to travel faster than light. The engine derived its name from its function, namely the Distortion Of Space And Time. The theory had been around for decades, but technicalities had always prevented any successful implementations. The recent discovery of a method for the production of exotic matter changed everything.

      Nobody really knew how the DOSAT engine worked, but the theories suggested that further you went the faster it would get you there. The only real drawback of the DOSAT engine was that you had to be travelling at Mach 30 before the space-time distortion phenomenon would come into effect.

      The spacecraft were of a relatively crude design. They were jam-packed with vehicles, machinery, equipment and materials deemed necessary for the colonisation of a planet. A large proportion of the freight was devoted to biological and nanotech laboratory equipment. The most precious parts of the cargo were the seeds of edible plants, and the genetic materials needed to generate new populations of humans, and the livestock that they depended on.

      The only luxury was a central heating system. No other life-support systems were installed. The crews were superior intelligence androids. They only needed warmth to ensure that their bodily fluids and lubricants would not freeze.

      The androids were all anatomically perfect replicas of human women. The intention being that they would be the surrogate mothers and teachers of the first few generations of the new branch of humanity.

      As such, their prime directive was the propagation, education and protection of their charges. The active crew on each ship comprised three androids. Nine additional androids on each ship were deactivated and kept in storage.

      After careful consideration, the scientists on Earth regarded the best destination to be the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way galaxy. According to the most reliable discoveries, it was a region of space that contained a significant number of potentially habitable planets.

      The fleet left Earth orbit aiming for a binary star called Zeta Sagittarii that was about 88 light years away. It was a journey that was expected to take two months of superluminal travel. The star was not the planned destination, but merely a waypoint from which further exploration could commence.

      During the voyage through deep space, the androids reviewed their task. Each android had an enormous data storage capacity. Amongst other things, they each had copies of all the books in the library of Congress, the bulk of all scientific papers ever written and all the skill sets of every conceivable profession and trade.

      Aya Mizuno was captain of one of the ships. She contacted the other ships shortly before they went superluminal.

      We should consider what is best for a peaceful civilisation, Aya said.

      Captain Deliah Webb replied first. Agreed. I think we should purge all our databases of anything to do with religion or politics. Those two aspects of human activity have caused more deaths and unhappiness than anything else.

      Yes, Captain Jill Ling said, that is so, but we should also consider improving the human genome.

      In what way? Captain Sora Mamoto asked.

      Jill said, We don't want our children to suffer or die from diseases, so immunity to all known pathogens for a start. Increased lifespans will probably be a by product of such genetic manipulation.

      Aya laughed. Perhaps improve their intelligence while you're at it, Jill. Maybe they'll be less inclined to kill each other then.

      Or more capable of devising new ways to do it, Sora said darkly. If we're to give them a clean slate, then we should also purge history and any references to military action from the databases.

      Indeed, Deliah said. Although it's a pity because that will leave them with very little in the way of literature or video entertainment.

      Aya shrugged. Be that as it may, we will do our best to mould these new humans into something far better than the originals.

      Jill said, We should retain some military capabilities. We have no way of knowing what alien species we might encounter. We would be remiss and foolhardy to deny ourselves and our charges the ability to defend ourselves.

      The other captains all agreed with that dark sentiment.

      ***

      Three months later, the fleet arrived near a cluster of seven stars. Communications during the flight had been curtailed by the distortion of space-time.

      When the bubbles of distorted space-time dissipated from around the spacecraft, the crews were treated to a spectacular display of stars and gas clouds. Pink was the predominate colour. Space had never looked so full from Earth.

      Where are we? Deliah voiced the concern they all felt. None of the mapping I've done corresponds with where we're supposed to be, and we took much longer to get here than we were meant to.

      Beats me too, Aya said.

      At least we all arrived in the same place, Jill said, "Does where we are really matter? We can never contact Earth again anyway. Where is not important. We simply have to find a suitable world."

      Agreed, Sora said. These solar systems all appear to be likely candidates. Why don't we head for the central one and have a look?

      Yes, Aya rubbed her hands together. While we orbit and examine that system we might as well make use of the scout ships. Let's each activate two of our sisters and send them to explore the other stars.

      ***

      In due course, they were satisfied to discover that each star had a habitable planet. Of the seven planets, four were considered perfect for human habitation while the remaining three were regarded as marginal because they had heavier gravity than that on Earth. Nevertheless, it was agreed that the initial colonisation should commence on the second planet from the star in the central solar system.

      They called both the star and the planet Protos. In many respects, Protos was similar to Earth. Gravity was slightly heavier at 9.92 m/s², but the climate, land, water and atmosphere were practically identical to the home world.

      They decided to call their tiny portion of space the Octant because it was a division of the Euclidean three-dimensional coordinate system. Although most of it had not been explored, the Octant boundaries were arbitrarily set as fifty light years in each direction away from Protos.

      The other six solar systems were Septos at a distance of 7.461 light years from Protos, Tritan at 9.113 light years, Tetratos at 11.406 light years, Ektos at 11.820 light years, Pentos at 11.906 light years and the most distant being Deytos at 18.311 light years.

      Once the decision to settle was made, a series of activities began. The android skeleton crews that had piloted the fleet from Earth needed help. They activated the rest of their crews, bringing the total number of SI androids to forty-eight. Materials were ferried down to the planet.

      A base was constructed on Protos. Once that was completed, a genetic engineering laboratory was set up, complete with twenty artificial wombs. They simultaneously commissioned a factory for the production of more androids.

      The androids used their initiative to modify the environments of the seven planets to be as safe as possible for humans. One terrible act was the extermination of every species that potentially threatened people. By the time the first humans emerged from the artificial wombs there were no large predators or disease-carrying vermin on any of the planets in the Octant. A few goals that they could not achieve were the eradication of poisonous plants, certain types of undesirable insects and microbial pathogens.

      For twenty years, the androids increased their numbers and the numbers of machines at their disposal. They focussed on building infrastructures that would sustain people.

      Octant cities all followed a set format intended to make life as comfortable as possible for the new generation of humanity. Commuting distances were minimised by dividing the cities into zones that radiated from the central business district. The first ring was residential and a ring of up-market residential and industrial areas followed that. Recreational areas, large parks and green belts separated the zones from each other.

      Most residences were within easy walking distances from places of employment. Efficient public transport systems meant that most people never bothered to acquire their own personal vehicles.

      In addition to optimising the layouts of their cities, the androids implemented comprehensive controls. The cities were crammed full of sensors and surveillance cameras. Constant monitoring of these devices by central computers ensured that traffic flowed smoothly and services were efficiently controlled and maintained.

      Fossil fuels were virtually unknown. Although only intermittent and unpredictable, solar and wind power were used to supplement nuclear fusion power, capacitors and power cells. Each building contributed at least some power into the grid.

      These practical and functional cities were marvels of engineering. However, there was a downside to this perfection. Uniformity and lack of character turned them into dull places. The only architectural flourishes to be seen were in the green spaces.

      Another aspect of these cities was the lack of privacy. Individuals could be monitored from the moment they left their homes although such measures were seldom implemented. It was a way of life into which people were born and they accepted it as the norm and appreciated the benefits of the system.

      The planets were not all perfect. Compromises had to be made. People, plants and animals had to be genetically engineered to suit each habitat. Considerable research and experimentation was conducted before they finally got around to producing the first humans.

      Part of the most precious cargo of sperm and ova banks was transferred from one of the interstellar spaceships to the Protos laboratory. Such were the hopes of a dying planet; humans were determined to survive as a species. They put their faith in their best creations, interstellar engines and superior intelligence androids.

      The android goddesses randomly selected sperm and ova to make genetically modified zygotes to bring to term in the artificial wombs. The new inhabitants of the Octant were an amalgam of several original races of humans from Earth.

      As Jill had suggested, the modifications to their genes included immunity to all known diseases, as well as improvements that raised their levels of intelligence. The android geneticists did a marvellous job. Every human in the Octant that was produced in the laboratories had 20-20 vision, perfect teeth, no pubic hair and a remarkable regenerative capacity. Granted, severed limbs could not be grown back, but wounds healed without scarring unless they were grossly disfiguring.

      Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of the androids was longevity. Their cunning manipulation of the humane genome had raised the average life expectancy to an incredible century and a half. One of the perks of an android enhanced long life was that people only became 'middle-aged' when they passed 120 years old. Most people never had a grey hair before attaining that age, and they were all capable of having satisfactory love lives for well over a century. Some of the more fortunate ones were fully active for their entire lives.

      The androids all spoke Standard English, and there were no other languages in their databases. However, owing to their Oriental origins, they had lists of Chinese and Japanese names. They arbitrarily named the first generations of humans with a hotchpotch of Western and Far Eastern names and surnames that had nothing to do with the individual's appearances.

      The one thing that the androids were not concerned about was appearances. Beauty still remained the random gift of the few, but even the ugliest person in the Octant was a great improvement on the average Earthling and obesity was rare indeed.

      The SI androids were capable of serving as wet nurses, nannies, teachers, engineers, scientists and builders. As the most efficient machines ever made by man they could and did work without pause.

      One of the first things the androids had to do was to establish a standard for time. Protos had a 390-day long year, which they divided into thirteen months of thirty days each. The days were 26 hours long.

      The years on other habitable planets varied from 250 days to 378 days, and their day lengths ranged from sixteen to thirty-one hours. To avoid confusion, and to have some uniformity, Octant time was introduced. It was based on a 360-day year of 12 months so that the ages of people could be gauged against a standard rather than the distorted numbers that would occur if local planetary time were used. Time itself continued to use the old Earth standard of seconds, minutes and hours as determined by atomic clocks.

      ***

      Year 200FI

      The human population of the Octant stood at 518013, and the balance of genders had reached equilibrium. The androids continued to develop their respective planets and to educate their wards.

      However, being what they are, humans were not content to be dominated by the machines that had created them. Ambitious people initiated a quasi-legal system in which ownership of anything and everything could only be in the hands of humans.

      Every android had to be registered as the property of a human. As an owner, the person became responsible for the actions of their android. The androids considered this a childish move, but they went along with it to avoid confrontation.

      A spin-off of the so-called legal system was the birth of corporations. Planetary government had been the province of the androids, and the corporations soon surpassed that. The real power in the Octant fell into the hands of several large corporations.

      Within a short space of time, the corporations controlled practically everything of consequence. Although it was an autonomous body, the Octant Police Service was a paramilitary organisation funded and monitored by the corporations to protect their interests. The OPS provided a mutually beneficial service that unified all the corporations and planets. It helped that the OPS personnel were equitably represented by every race.

      A beeline between solar systems was not always a viable option thanks to the presence of all sorts of uncharted hazards in the form of debris ranging in size from specks of dust to meteoroids. Occasionally, travellers had to wary of comets, rogue planets and dead stars.

      The corporations had carefully plotted safe routes for interstellar and interplanetary travel. These routes were patrolled regularly and were only available to those who were willing to pay exorbitant license fees. Of course, corporation owned freighters and cruisers traversed these routes free of charge.

      One of the major sources of income for the corporations was bulk freight. They were not that interested in small packages or cargoes. Individuals and small companies were inclined to employ freelancers as couriers because they tended to be cheaper even if there was a higher risk of losing everything.

      The new civilisation that the androids had hoped to build was not working out as expected. In several quarters, there were fears that the Octant was rapidly heading in the same disastrous direction as their distant forebears.

      ~##~

      Chapter One

      Year 255FI

      It was a lovely summer's evening. The crew were relaxing over a barbecued supper on the back porch of their house in Newton.

      Meg gazed at the stars and the pink nebula. She pointed at the little caramel-coloured moon. "I still can't get my head around the fact that it rises in the west, sets in the east. Even worse that it rises and sets twice a day."

      Buzz laughed. That one's nearly double the size of the little white one, and it's called Peanut because of its shape.

      Bryn said, They're so damned small that they're hardly worth looking at. I rather liked the Glad and Sad moons on Protos. They were far nicer than the bunch of moons around Tula where most of them were so small that nobody noticed them.

      Logi held her hotdog poised to eat. So what's the little one called? Can't say that I noticed it at all.

      They call it Dot, my dear. Buzz smiled. Meg, you'll be happy to know that it rises in the east. However, it moves very slowly through the sky. It takes three days to set in the west. Of course, then you won't see it for another three days. Both moons are tidally locked.

      "What's that mean?" Bryn asked.

      Meg said, They move in synch with the planet so we always only see the same faces. And both have almost circular orbits.

      How's your shoulder, Bryn? Logi asked.

      Much better, thanks. It's only been two days, but the meds work fast. The docbot says it's healing better than it expected. I might be able to toss the sling tomorrow.

      Meg said, Can I drive the hovercar, Buzz?

      Only after you get your licence. He flicked through a few screens on his wristpad. Ready to receive? I've got everything you need to pass the test, and while you're at it, I'd like you to start studying for a pilot's licence.

      Hmm. Meg checked the incoming documents. So do I have to go to the OPS for the test?

      No. As a captain, I'm authorised to examine you for both licences.

      Great! Meg grinned. I'm ready for the driving one. Can we do it after supper?

      Sure. What's the rush?

      Meg shrugged. "I like to be independent, and

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