Mantis Exile: Mantis Saga 6 Read online

  Mantis Exile

  Mantis Saga Book 6

  Jim Henderson

  Copyright 2020 by Jim Henderson All rights reserved

  In writing this book, I must acknowledge the 40+ years of science fiction books, movies, TV shows, tabletop role-playing, and video games that fired my imagination. Thanks to all those who encouraged me in this effort and those who provided feedback on the first five books. Thanks to Rachel Welsh, Hannah Kaye, and Boris Vitlic for helping to bring this project further to life. Big thanks to https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/ for help coming up with a large number of names with reasonable logical consistency. Most especially, thanks to my dear wife Rhonda for reading all of the books more than once, for her valuable feedback, and for invaluable encouragement and patience.

  You can find all the other books in the series at:

  https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Henderson/e/B07PPXYPNQ

  For images, videos, updates, and more, see the Mantis Saga site at:

  http://www.mantissaga.space

  Also see the YouTube channel at:

  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCheDOML36vY0qLtOA0rdtlQ

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 0: Exiled

  Chapter 1: Into the Dark Again

  Chapter 2: Rarob Bound

  Chapter 3: Getting into the Rhythm

  Chapter 4: Rarob-6

  Chapter 5: Trouble at Banjalis

  Chapter 6: Banjalis

  Chapter 7: Eamedora

  Chapter 8: Banjalis Base

  Chapter 9: Old Acquaintance

  Chapter 10: Seizure

  Chapter 11: Response

  Chapter 12: Darkness

  Chapter 13: Chaos

  Chapter 14: Rescue

  Chapter 15: Frustration

  Chapter 16: Summation

  Chapter 17: Graduation

  Chapter 18: Taking Fright

  Chapter 19: Back on Track

  Chapter 20: Banjalis II

  Chapter 21: Gas Giant Cleansing

  Chapter 22: Leaving Banjalis

  Chapter 23: Orrarra

  Chapter 24: Arrival

  Chapter 25: The Incident, Yet Again

  Chapter 26: Republic Representative

  Chapter 27: All Who Wander Are Not Lost

  MAPS

  Chapter 0: Exiled

  The wind rushed past Ximon’s face as he piloted the sailing catamaran; he felt a bit like he was flying a starship. In reality, automated systems did most of the work of controlling the sails, and he just steered in a general direction. Aside from his desultory steering, his attention tended towards two things. First was the lovely scenery at sea – the striking blue sky, colorful cloud formations, and brilliant green islands in the distance. The second was the scenery on the foredeck, primarily his beautiful wife sunning herself in a small bikini that she was almost bursting out of.

  Raiza had the “perfect 10” type body that men craved; a dazzlingly beautiful face with strawberry blond hair flowing behind her as she sat up in the sun. As always, he felt lucky to have such a beauty in his life. She was his wife, his dearest friend, and a valued member of his crew, both medic, and steward. She also just happened to be a TrueForm Service Robot (TSR) model D8 companion bot, but that didn’t bother Ximon one bit.

  Ximon’s attention was occasionally drawn to the other passengers. Elsbeth stood just aft, wearing a one-piece bathing suit that was performing impressive engineering feats to hold things up and in. She was in her forties, with a more matronly body and a generous amount of curves. Her long, sandy blond hair flew out behind her as she held her drink aloft and yelled, “Woo Hoo.” On the Mantis, she served as chief engineer, and assisted with many other tasks. On this sailing trip, her only duties were drinking hard and having fun, two things she seemed to be excelling at.

  Elsbeth leaned on her lover, Peter, occasionally stroking his chest. Peter unabashedly wore nothing but a speedo. That was easy for him to do because he had the chiseled physique of a body-builder—heavily muscled chest, big arms, and a washboard stomach. He was also tall and ruggedly handsome. Peter, too, was a companion bot -- a TSR QT companion/service robot with a strength enhancement - who Elsbeth had acquired a few years before. On the Mantis, he assisted Elsbeth with ship maintenance and handled their cargo and inventory. Here, Peter was mainly helping Elsbeth stay upright, keeping her drink full and her hands occupied. He was happy to oblige.

  While steering, Ximon enjoyed a tall hard lemonade. He was in his mid-fifties and had a thickening waistline. Ximon wore large shorts, a loose sport shirt, and wore a straw fedora, which covered his thinning reddish hair that had turned predominantly gray. He was just enjoying the wind, the ride, the scenery, and the company of friends. He did spare a thought for their two other friends and crew members, as neither of them could easily operate this far from the ship – the ship’s AI and another robot.

  The crew was in exile, but it was a pretty nice exile, indeed. The only question was how long that exile might last and where that would take them.

  When they left the Kremniy Republic ahead of warrants for their arrest, they had wound up on Irapce, a lovely, unaligned world they had repeatedly visited. There, they were welcomed with open arms, largely due to the advocacy of their friend, Colonel Kanebti of the Irapce System Guard. Kanebti had helped orient them further to the area, finding them some work teaching at the Guard Academy, as well as some occasional consulting work and resupply flights.

  Kanebti knew exactly why the Mantis and her crew were on Irapce and did his best to ensure they were comfortable. This included helping the crew avoid any entanglements with the Republic Mission on Irapce, since there were warrants out for their arrest.

  The Mantis’ crew enjoyed this life for a couple months, but changes were coming. Raiza had long prepared herself, and lobbied Ximon to become a doctor. She had extensive knowledge, far more practical experience than most doctors, and had excelled on the qualifying exams. However, she hadn’t had a chance to attend medical school while they were flying around the Republic. Being on Irapce presented a new opportunity. She was familiar with medical techniques and equipment beyond the norm on Irapce, so they gave her considerable credit. This allowed her, with help from Kanebti and others in the government, to secure a spot on a one-year medical practicum. At the end of that, she would be an official doctor.

  Once things fell in place for Raiza to go, Ximon couldn’t bring himself to stand in her way. However, he was worried on several fronts. First, he was worried that someone on Irapce might discriminate against her, since humaniform robots were not common there. Second, he wasn’t sure how well he could get along without her; she had been by his side, helping him with everything, for several years. While she was working on the practicum, they would have to carry out trips without her on board. This would initially be strange, but Ximon was determined to make it work - for her sake.

  Ximon and the crew had done some short trips within the Irapce System, mainly hauling equipment or passengers to several Irapce outposts on other moons or planets. However, Irapce had relatively few hyperspace-capable ships, so they were anxious for the Mantis to undertake small missions to other nearby systems. But Ximon waited until Raiza had started the practicum and appeared settled before he took any of these jobs.

  After a few days, it appeared Raiza was in her element and was impressing the staff and the other students. It became clear that she could work any of them ‘under the table’ since she didn’t need to sleep. She did occasionally need to recharge and defragment her memories, but she could go almost three days before she absolutely needed down time and then a few hours would do. Additionally, a wealth of information was available to her as she could access informatio
n feeds at almost any time. Finally, she, quite literally, had a photographic memory, so she remembered everything she was taught or shown perfectly. It looked like she’d be fine.

  Chapter 1: Into the Dark Again

  Ximon was glad when he came down the path to find the Mantis sitting safely on her landing pad. She was an old, retired Vanguard class scout ship awarded to Ximon by the Kremniy Scout Force (KSF) upon his retirement. Though over 50 years old, she was kept in good repair by Elsbeth and Peter, with quite a few upgrades to make her more reliable, comfortable, and flexible. She might not win any beauty prizes, but Ximon loved her.

  As he approached, he signaled her, “Mantis, how have you been?”

  “Quite well, Captain. Euclidia and I have had some scintillating discussions.”

  “Oh, I’m sure. Are you ready for takeoff?”

  “Yes, quite.”

  “Good. As you no doubt saw from the planning data, we’re going a bit farther out this time.”

  “Yes, though still a fairly short distance for us based on our historical averages.”

  In addition to being a ship, Mantis was also the name of the advanced artificial intelligence (AI) computer that served as the ship's brain. She could perform many ship functions to some level.

  Ximon came in, dropped his bag in his cabin, and took a quick tour about the main ship areas as it had been a few weeks. The central galley looked empty and quiet; he was going to miss having Raiza there, as well as in their cabin. He didn’t peek in Elsbeth and Peter’s cabins, but the three empty staterooms looked fine, and the last stateroom was still set up as a medical bay for a medic they no longer had on board. Raiza’s absence definitely left holes in his life. The cargo bay looked calm and quiet, engineering was silent, and the bridge was just coming to life.

  Euclidia was there on the bridge, sitting in the co-pilot seat.

  “Greetings, Captain. Is all well?”

  “Yes, Euclidia. How have you been?”

  “Quite well. Mantis and I have had a quiet but enjoyable time between trips. How was the ocean?”

  “It was very nice and served as a nice send off for Raiza. She’s all settled in on her practicum and seems to be doing well.”

  “Of course, sir. We hear from her regularly and assist if and when we can.”

  Euclidia had been a teaching robot. However, in many senses, he had given his ‘life’ as part of the deal that was made with the Shebatha. Mantis and the crew were able to restore most of his memories and personality to a virtual machine running within Mantis’ computer core. When Ximon had been asked to test a TrueForm Computer Extension Line (CEL) robot, he had jumped at the chance to get it for Euclidia’s use. The CEL robots were physically somewhat crude, with a simple ceramic outer coating of light grey. While they had very limited on-board mental capacity, they could connect to a larger computer, such as Mantis, and be controlled from there. Thus, Euclidia lived within Mantis but had the CEL as a physical body. Of course, the limitation was that he had to maintain strong communication between the bot body and Mantis, or the bot would default to simple, basic programming. This arrangement suited both Euclidia and Mantis well, as each was the other’s favorite company.

  Ximon plopped down in his seat on the bridge and began preflight and navigational checks. He was pleased to see Elsbeth and Peter arrive a few minutes later. Elsbeth wasn’t known for her great punctuality, something that had caused him frustration in the past. So, he was relieved when she arrived on time, both because it meant they could leave on time and it meant they avoided conflict.

  Peter stowed their luggage in their cabin while Elsbeth trudged to engineering to do a few checks.

  After a few minutes, Elsbeth came through on the radio, her voice thick and groggy, “OK, Ximon, everything looks OK back here, but just plan on taking it easy. I don’t need you breaking anything.”

  Ximon thought that Elsbeth probably had a few drinks in her, but she was a better engineer somewhat drunk than what most were sober. As long as she kept things under control, he didn’t object.

  She joined him on the bridge a few minutes later and Euclidia silently left the co-pilot seat to sit behind Ximon in the sensor operator seat.

  Elsbeth did look a bit worse for wear with frazzled hair, no makeup, and sleepy eyes. “Remind me what we’re doing again.” she said, rubbing her eyes.

  Ximon sighed heavily in mock exasperation, “As I told you just a couple days ago …”

  She interrupted shortly. “Cut the crap, Ximon. I’ve drank and slept since then.”

  He arched his eyebrows, “Of that, I’m sure. We’re going to do the Rarob-Jasporus circuit. We’re going to the outposts the Irapce just set up on a couple moons of the gas giant, Rarob-66, then to their outpost on Jesaporus. We’re taking a few passengers and some cargo. Then we’ll bring some of the cargo and maybe a pax or two back here.”

  “Uggh, passengers! How are we going to handle them without Raiza?”

  Euclidia chimed in, “Elsbeth, I will be acting as the primary steward, preparing meals and generally handling the passengers. Peter has agreed to assist with baggage handling. That is, of course, if you have no objection.”

  “Not if it doesn’t get in the way of him handling what I need him for.” With this she winked at Ximon. Then she turned her head back toward Euclidia, “Please, just keep the passengers out of my hair.”

  “Of course, Elsbeth.”

  Elsbeth turned back toward Ximon. “So, how long do you figure we’ll be gone on this junk hauling run?”

  “About a week to Rarob, probably a couple days there, about a week to Jasporus, a couple days there, and about a week home. Total of about three weeks.”

  Elsbeth just grunted.

  She paused and looked at Ximon hard. “But seriously, are we going to be getting back to doing more of this? I’m OK with teaching for a bit, but this is more my style.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking, but you don’t have to. You could sit some …” He then spoke with emphasis, “… or all, of these trips out. They’re probably not super exciting, and the pay’s nothing to write home about.”

  Ximon thought she looked wistful for just a second, then she laughed coarsely, “Home; now there’s a thought. No, thanks. I’m in …” She stroked Mantis’ dash, “… and I’m not sure I’d trust you to bring back our girl here in one piece without me.”

  “Sure, Elsbeth. Whatever you tell yourself.”

  She got up and headed out, punching him on the arm as she went. “Come on, Euclidia. Let’s make sure everything’s ready for our illustrious guests.”

  Trucks with the cargo arrived in about 20 minutes, and Peter expertly handled everything, getting it all stowed and accounted for. He had developed an excellent system for maximizing storage space and allowing easy access. It had served both him and the ship well.

  The passengers were a bit trickier. They had started arriving about 30 minutes later, with Mantis alerting the crew when they did. Euclidia, ever patient, waited at the bottom of the ramp to greet them. Ximon stood just inside the ship at the top of the ramp to observe without being immediately seen.

  A couple in their forties approached the landing pad, each wearing a backpack, with the man dragging a large, wheeled duffle. The lady was of middle height, with graying, black hair, and an athletic build. He was fairly tall, thinning hair, graying beard, and somewhat overweight. They were confused and a bit tentative when they saw only Euclidia.

  Euclidia was, of course, gracious, “Good day, sir, ma’am. I am Euclidia and I will be your steward for the trip. Could I take your names please?”

  They stayed well back from him and looked around for alternatives.

  The woman finally spoke in a breathy voice, “Antar. Tania and Osahar Antar.” She straightened, apparently overcoming her nervousness and instead opting for command. “Now, can you take our bags and show us to our cabin?”

  “Of course, ma’am. I have you confirmed.” He reached for the duffel, which the ma
n released hesitantly, as if Euclidia might destroy it. “Please, follow me, and I’ll show you to your cabin.”

  The couple looked at each other and then followed, the man taking the lead as if to protect his wife from a potential attack. Ximon pulled back and sat in the galley as they started up the ramp.

  Euclidia led them through into the ship, talking all the way. “Here we have our galley. We have three meals a day and you’re welcome to relax here between meals too.” Then he turned toward Ximon, “And if I may present our Captain. Captain Sabo, if I may present the Antars.”

  They looked relieved to see a human and came over to shake his hand.

  Ximon just mumbled, “Welcome to the Mantis.”

  Euclidia headed toward their cabin, “Well, the captain is very busy and has to get the ship ready for takeoff.”

  The man followed after Euclidia down the hallway. However, the woman stepped close to Ximon. “Captain isn’t there someone, uh, else we could work with? Some other member of your crew? A human member of the crew?”

  “Nope, Euclidia is our steward. He’s fairly new to the role, but he’s quite good and incredibly knowledgeable.” He pointed with his mug toward Euclidia and their cabin. “You’ll want to hear his briefing on your cabin.”

  She did not look best pleased and leaned in again, “Is it safe? You’re responsible, you know.”

  He rolled his eyes, “Yes, I know, but you’re frankly far safer with him than most of the humans that I know.” Stepping past her, Ximon headed towards the bridge. “Gotta go. Captainey things to do.”

  He would watch the next group arrive on the security cameras. Two guys in their twenties or thirties. They were miners by the looks of them and the gear they brought. They’d arrived separately but would be sharing a room. Neither of them was excited to meet Euclidia, but they didn’t grumble, and they listened to his explanations.

  The last to arrive came at the last minute, as Ximon had returned to the galley to get a final snack and refill and happened to be in the galley when Euclidia led her up the ramp. Ximon was surprised to see that it was a woman in her thirties in a KSF Lieutenant Commander’s uniform. He was downright shocked when he realized he knew her, and she recognized him. She was thin and pretty, with shoulder-length blond hair, but had a scar on the right side of her face, with an artificial right arm. It was Zalina Yarvin. The crew had served with her in the Jaje System during the Kremniy-Kingdom War, flying with them when they evacuated the station after its near destruction. That had been a pretty dark time – rough battles and no few friends dead.