Mantis Intrigue: Mantis Saga - Book 5 Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Links

  Prologue

  Chapter 0: Haunted

  Chapter 1: Summoned

  Chapter 2: The Road to the Capitol

  Chapter 3: Krax

  Chapter 4: Regroup

  Chapter 5: Inquisition

  Chapter 6: Ancients

  Chapter 7: Inspections

  Chapter 8: Gloves Off

  Chapter 9: Precautions

  Chapter 10: Pronouncements

  Chapter 11: Homeward Bound

  Chapter 12: Emissary

  Chapter 13: Considerations

  Chapter 14: Message

  Chapter 15: Aftermath

  Appendix: Maps

  Mantis Intrigue

  Mantis Saga Book 5

  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 four books. Special thanks to Peter Weston and Boris Vitlic for helping to bring this project further to life. Most especially, thanks to my dear wife Rhonda for reading 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

  Prologue

  The crew of the Mantis needed some downtime after they completed the long and painful mission to the Shebatha. For that mission, they had been hired by an investigative firm, Robatham Associates, to look at the disappearance of several ships in a relatively small, but distant, area of space under suspicious circumstances. They worked with Silas, an investigator from Robatham, to gather information about where the lost ships had been. It appeared that most had disappeared near the Ozu or Oza star systems, so Ximon took Mantis into a hyperspatial jump toward Ozu. While in jump, they were intercepted by a ship – something generally considered impossible. On that ship was an alien being that identified itself as the Representative of the Shebatha. The Representative had four bowed legs, with the front ones ending in a sort of hands. The legs and lower body were covered by sleek gray-white skin. The upper body was nude and vaguely humanoid, but tall, slender, and apparently sexless, almost silver gray. The face was long, beautiful, and androgynous, with precise features, long, pointed ears, and slanted eyes of red. The hair was silky and almost looked like liquid mercury. The face bore an expression of bemused contempt.

  The Representative made it clear that the Shebatha were an ancient and powerful race and wanted to be left alone. They also explained that they had captured or destroyed the lost ships because the ships had bothered them. The Representative allowed the Mantis to perform a series of tasks for the Shebatha to atone for its intrusion in Shebatha space. This included surveying a world undergoing a devastating plague, seeding the primitive creatures on another planet to guide their evolution, emplacing a hyperspace reference beacon, gathering a breeding trio of a primitive race of bear-like creatures, and tell a small settlement to immediately leave their planet or be destroyed.

  It took months, but the crew completed these tasks and reported back to the Shebatha. The Representative angrily claimed they hadn't performed all these tasks properly and hit them with painful electromagnetic pulses that affected both humans and robots. The Representative then, strangely, offered them a deal whereby they could rescue some of the lost ships and crew. After some creative negotiation and a harrowing escape as the Shebatha tried to rush them away, Mantis managed to rescue the Kremniy Scout Ship (KSS) Trailblazer and the crews of several of the other ships.

  As they departed Shebatha space, they found that the Shebatha had installed a tractor beam in Mantis. They also found that the Shebatha had given Ximon a missive with orders to deliver it to the government of the Republic.

  Mantis returned home as quickly as it could, and the crew found that the government was intensely interested in what they had seen and in the Shebatha. They went through several debriefings, in agonizing detail, and they thought they were done.

  Chapter 0: Haunted

  Ximon was tormented in his dreams. He saw again the alien known as the Representative of the Shebatha. Then he felt again the pain of the torture it had inflicted on them. Ximon was hit by a wave of energy. Every nerve in his body simultaneously activated – pleasure, pain, sound, vision, smell, touch, and otherwise. He reeled in sensory overload. He could almost feel his nervous system screaming. Then nerve signals out of his control caused every muscle to twitch, contract, or extend. His body jerked painfully and uncontrollably, and it was all he could do to get his body to fall to its knees before he pitched forward onto his face, alternately drooling, coughing, and retching. Blood and mucus ran from his nose. His heart raced, beat erratically, and felt as if it might explode or stop at any second. His breathing was spasmodic panting, alternating between deprivation and hyperventilation.

  His mind, too, was assaulted. Every thought and every memory seemed to activate simultaneously, repeatedly, and in random order and association. He went through waves of every emotion as memories flooded in. His brain burned and ached painfully from extreme use, and he couldn't form any conscious thought. He was completely shut out of control of his body and brain.

  It all only lasted a few minutes, but felt like hours of grueling pain, fear, and confusion. Then his limp form lay breathing heavily in a puddle of his own blood, vomit, and drool. Nearby his crew lay in similar heaps recovering from their torture.

  Then the Representative faded away to nothing, along with the blood, vomit, and his crew. Some new beings appeared that he didn't recognize. They were tall and faceless, dressed in long grey-black robes of some kind. Dozens of them seemed to come and go from his sight. They would come out of nowhere, kick him or hit him, and then fade back. After a few moments of this, some of them proceeded to lead him about, either pulling him on a chain or prodding him with sticks. He had no idea where they were taking him, but he knew he didn't like it.

  He awoke with a scream of pain, fear, and confusion, looking up at his dear Raiza. She was naked and beautiful as ever, but with concern etched on her face. "Ximon, Ximon, are you OK? Did you have another nightmare?"

  It took him a moment to wet his lips, "Yeah. I've had more nightmares in the last few months than in the rest of my life combined. That Representative messed with my mind."

  Other than bad dreams, Ximon Sabo and his crew unconsciously waited for whatever happened next.

  Ximon periodically looked for job options but wasn't in any hurry to take anything. He stretched his large frame as he relaxed between perusing ScoutLink for jobs. Being a retired Kremniy Scout Force (KSF) Commander, ScoutLink was a good place to look for potential jobs. Ximon was of average height and a bit thick around the middle. Having spent over two decades in the KSF, he was now in his mid-fifties, with thinning to his reddish-gray hair and a short beard. He had retired from the KSF about four years before but was still part of the KSF's Auxiliary Reserve Command (ARC) by virtue of having been awarded a surplus scout ship, the KSS Mantis. Belonging to the ARC generally entailed few responsibilities. Ximon had to maintain the Mantis to a specified standard, produce the ship for inspection every three to five years, and had to be willing to share "exploration data" from the ship's travels with other scout bases and ships. Finally, in case of a major wa
r or emergency, Mantis was subject to be recalled back into service, with or without its captain. In general, he thought it was a low price to pay for his ship.

  As Ximon stretched, his dear Raiza came into the room. Ximon never ceased to be amazed at her beauty – average height, a traffic-stopping hour glass figure, lovely face, and strawberry blond hair falling in long ringlets. She was Ximon's wife, the two having gotten married a couple of years earlier. In addition to that critical role, she served as Mantis' medical officer and steward, and generally assisted with any other duties she could. She just happened to be a TrueForm Service Robot (TSR) model D8 companion robot, but that didn't bother Ximon a bit.

  She put an arm on his shoulder, "My dear, would you like lunch or anything else?"

  "That sounds good. Thank you."

  She kissed him lightly, "Very well. I'll have sandwiches ready in about ten minutes."

  He joined her at the table in the galley in a few minutes, several kinds of small sandwiches ready. He ate while she made desultory drinking motions. Being a robot, she didn't need to eat or drink, though she could do so in small quantities to make humans more comfortable eating in her presence.

  While Ximon was eating, Elsbeth showed up. As was so often the case, she wore a ship flight suit as she was usually either doing, or planning, some ship maintenance. Elsbeth Petra was a sturdy, moderately attractive woman in her forties, curvy with long, sandy blond hair. She, too, was a KSF retiree, though with less total service time than Ximon. She served as chief engineer and assisted with many other tasks.

  Ximon welcomed her, "What? No Peter today?"

  She grabbed a couple small sandwiches and straddled one of the seats. "He's doing something back in the cargo hold, but he let me know there was food."

  "What are you up to?"

  "Other than relaxing, I've got to see Ole Kruse to plan some final paperwork on that modification."

  Ximon just grunted, not entirely sure he believed that.

  Elsbeth Petra, had been busy off and on. She had worked with a starship architect from Signet Structural Enterprise, an Ole Kruse. They had installed a launch tube for satellites on Mantis in such a way that it didn't compromise her aerodynamics or hull strength by placing the launch tube so it faced aft along one of the spines of the ship. It would allow them to launch small cubesats or decoys without using the cargo arm.

  Ximon was pretty sure that Elsbeth wound up having an affair with Ole as she spent a lot of time away and didn't take Peter. It started while Ole and Elsbeth were overseeing the modification, but once done, they had taken a short trip together. This was supposedly a business trip related to the install, but Ximon didn't buy it. He kind of felt bad for Peter, though Peter showed no sign of minding.

  Peter was Elsbeth's companion bot. He was a TSR QT companion/service robot, with a strength enhancement. Elsbeth had acquired him a couple years before and seemed very happy with him. He looked like he could be a bouncer. He was of above-average height, with rugged good looks and the chiseled, if simulated, muscles of a bodybuilder. He assisted Elsbeth with ship maintenance and handled their cargo and inventory.

  During these weeks, Ximon took a few in-system jobs for Mantis, running passengers or cargo out to outer planets and just enjoying the quiet of space. But he didn't seriously look at more substantial jobs – to other systems or sectors. It was an unconscious waiting game. Elsbeth was the only member of the crew who lacked eternal patience, so she asked him about this a couple times, but he just said that he "wanted to let the dust settle." She didn't buy it, but she enjoyed having time off, so didn't push the issue and spent more time on beaches, in bars, and so forth.

  Mantis was, of course, the surplus starship the KSF had awarded to Ximon -- a Vanguard class survey starship. She was officially designated as Kremniy Scout Ship Survey Craft KSS SC-1550-V, but Ximon had named her Mantis. She was almost 50 years old and hadn't always been kept in good repair, but the crew had fixed her up nicely. Originally quite spartan, she had been upgraded for greater comfort and utility. She had six staterooms, a comfortable galley, a three-seat bridge, and could haul a reasonable amount of cargo. She was small, had good maneuver speed, and a jump range of 15 light years, meaning she could do 15 light years in one hyperspatial jump. She had some weapons – two laser cannons, chaff throwers, and defensive flares. Mantis had an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system that could perform many ship functions at some level. Since the AI was essentially the ship's "brain", the name Mantis could apply to either the ship or its AI personality.

  Since these small jobs provided more time on-planet than normal, Raiza was determined to make use of the opportunity. She persuaded Ximon to help her take the Medical Intern Qualifying Exam (MIQE) as she was interested in one day training to be a doctor. To even be allowed to take the exam, she had to submit documents on all her training, details of experience, and letters of recommendation. She was able to get some recommendations as soon as they could reach people, but that took time. However, Ximon helped by calling in favors within KSF headquarters and getting a letter of recommendation from Dr. Hazim Struder, a KSF Rear Admiral and the senior KSF medical officer on Tixaya.

  The MIQE was an arduous two-day affair that many people spent months studying for, even though test-takers had access to computer resources for parts of it. In Raiza's case, adding or updating specific, detailed data was no problem. Most of this she could just get from publicly available networks and incorporate into her body of knowledge. The first day of the exam was hundreds of questions on details of medical knowledge: everything from drug interactions to standard treatments, to ethics, to legal issues. These questions became ever harder and more esoteric as the day went on. She got a near-perfect score on this portion of the test, except for a few questions that she felt were inaccurate or poorly stated. She hoped they would be thrown out or corrected in test-review.

  The second day of the exam was less clear cut, and both the questions and answers were more subjective. Each test-taker received six to twelve medical cases to review and provide treatment plans for. Some of these cases were simply written, some were provided verbally, and some involved examining physical simulations. Raiza was confident that she had proposed appropriate treatments based on the information given. However, she was concerned that some of the information may have intentionally been misrepresented, and she expressed concern that she may not have fully accounted for this.

  All her assessments of the test proved to be correct. She initially got a 99.1% on the day one knowledge test, but several questions were thrown out or edited during review, raising her score to 99.6%. She was certain that a few other questions were in error but had to accept that grade. She did extremely well on most of her second day cases. However, in several of the cases, the information provided was intentionally vague or misleading. She caught, and corrected for, the inconsistencies in the written cases or test data, but she didn't properly catch some patient non-verbal cues that would have told her they were lying about their symptoms. She apologized to Ximon when she had to report only getting a 94.4% on the second day. Overall, she got an adjusted total score of 97.3%, placing her in the top 2% of test takers for the year.

  That, coupled with her experience and recommendations, qualified her for an internship. Now, they just had to find the right time and place to do that.

  Since Elsbeth was occupied with Ole Kruse for quite a bit of their down time, Peter focused on detailed preventive maintenance on Mantis, checking everything from filters, to capacitor levels, etc. He also re-organized, cleaned, resurfaced, and re-assembled everything in the cargo bay. Ximon thanked him for his diligence and organization, but again felt sorry for Peter. Ximon knew that Peter's greatest happiness came from pleasing Elsbeth. If she wasn't around, he couldn't please her.

  The final two members of the crew, Mantis and Euclidia, also made good use of the down time. Mantis spent some time working with Peter on various preventive maintenance inspections and optimizations. Mantis and
Euclidia also expanded their available stores of information. Mantis enhanced her available memory and filled it with useful data. Then, since Euclidia was still just a virtual artificially intelligent 'tenant' program inside of Mantis' computer structure, Mantis expanded his available storage as well.

  The two spent considerable time getting the two books on Mantis operations that they, Ximon, and the rest of the crew had written, ready for publication. The first was an interesting telling of many of their stories called, "The Adventures of the Mantis" by The Robotic Crew of the Mantis: Euclidia, Mantis, Raiza, and Peter. The second book focused on principles of small starship operations and leadership therein. It was called, "Lessons on Small Starship Operations" by Commander Ximon Sabo, KSF ARC, and the crew of the Mantis.

  They finished the books, did some reviews with Ximon, ran them through the KSF and Robatham for legal approval, and published them. They ensured they were as widely available as possible and had a few print copies produced for visual effect and so they could be shared with anyone who couldn't otherwise access them. As they did all this, they also worked to have the books translated into several different languages and made them available in those. Finally, they gathered simulations for numerous voices and made 'full cast' audio versions of both books.

  Chapter 1: Summoned

  Finally, after over a month of these small jobs, the other shoe dropped. Ximon received a message from Ms. Saleema Salhi, an aide on the staff of Senator Vigil, Republic Senator from Tixaya. It simply said, "Captain Sabo, we request your presence at our offices at 232 Government Plaza, Suite GX at 1030 tomorrow. If you wish, you may bring a member of your staff who attended the governmental hearing two months ago and was read into the matter at hand." That made the topic pretty clear to Ximon – they wanted to discuss something about the Shebatha. He also noted that the message copied Captain Duregar, KSF, who had grilled Ximon on the subject, and Robatham Associates, his customer for that mission. Presumably, he would not be alone.