War Torrent Read online

  THE OUTWORLDS

  WAR TORRENT

  Daniel P. Douglas

  Copyright © 2015 Daniel P. Douglas

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of the author/publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

  ISBN-10: 0692450041

  ISBN-13: 978-0692450048

  eISBN: 978-0990737193

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2015943455

  LCCN Imprint Name: Geminid Press, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Author Note

  Epigraph

  Prologue: Mineral 99

  Chapter 1: Listening Post

  Chapter 2: Ambush

  Chapter 3: Wake Up Call

  Chapter 4: Too Quick To Judge

  Chapter 5: Contact

  Chapter 6: Soul Saviors

  Chapter 7: Ameo Nihav

  Chapter 8: Faith, Prophecies, and Plans

  Chapter 9: Operations

  Chapter 10: Transitions and Revelations

  Epilogue: Lizard Men

  Excerpt from THE OUTWORLDS: RESURGENCE

  Excerpt from TRUTH INSURRECTED: THE SAINT MARY PROJECT

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Thank you to all of those who serve—past, present, and future—in epic struggles be they against outright evil or anything that diminishes our virtue, lives, or spirit. Your sacrifices are a testament to your selfless courage and to your inspiring faith in justice. As always, may truth be mighty and prevail.

  Author Note

  War Torrent is a novella and the first book in The Outworlds series. Thanks for giving it a read. I’ve often said The Outworlds is a series of science fiction adventure stories set in the early twenty-fourth century at the fringe of human civilization. Although War Torrent steps outside that timeline, you can bet that its events, characters, and technology have a major influence on the storyline in The Outworlds. As a bonus here at the end, I’ve included an early preview excerpt from Resurgence, which is the second book in the series.

  In War Torrent, and throughout the rest of The Outworlds series, unlikely heroes will be called upon to join extraordinary and mysterious struggles. Their sometimes-reluctant choices and actions will put them on a collision course with destiny and reveal unimaginable truths. Their survival will mean confronting personal flaws and doubts, and forging unexpected fates as inspiring new champions in the eternal battle against evil.

  For those of you who enjoy conspiracy thrillers with science fiction elements, I’ve also included an excerpt from my debut novel, Truth Insurrected: The Saint Mary Project. In Truth Insurrected, I tell the story of ex-FBI agent turned private investigator, William Harrison, who becomes embroiled in an attempt to reveal a sinister, decades-old government cover-up. What are they hiding? The truth about UFOs and alien contact. Will truth be mighty and prevail?

  Thanks again for giving War Torrent and the excerpts a read! I hope you enjoy them.

  “Faith is the light that guides you through the darkness.”

  - Author Unknown

  Prologue

  Mineral 99

  **EXEC**LEVEL I DISSEM**ONLY**

  Sensitive Compartmentalized Intelligence

  In summary, I can say this: Since the initial discoveries began in the Outworlds only a handful of months ago, relics, remains, and data from various archeological surveys indicate the Angorgals are an ancient but now-extinct reptilian humanoid race. And they were a rather advanced one at that. The evidence constitutes humanity’s first physical discovery of sentient, intelligent, civilization-building alien life. A revolutionary development but one that must remain classified for now due to proprietary mandates and, frankly, common sense.

  Some data indicate their home system had a single star around which orbited one gas giant planet with six habitable moons. Each moon’s population was primarily that of a distinct Angorgal subsect, but all of them originated from one moon in particular. This configuration is not a match for any system here within the Outworlds, so their home must have existed beyond the current frontier. We must conclude, therefore, that the material found in the Outworlds indicates a failed colonization effort or abandoned scientific outpost.

  The few FCME-SRDB team members privy to the limited collection of evidence generally agree the Angorgals perished many centuries ago, possibly because of an incurable virus that an unidentified enemy used against them in biological warfare. We can guess a good many things about them, but we just don’t know with certainty what happened to them. Further digs and study will surely reveal more about them, in particular, the cause of their demise.

  An assortment of remains at Angorgal sites has revealed matches to human DNA. It is our strong suspicion an Angorgal subsect not only reached the Outworlds, but also continued farther—to Earth—many centuries ago for what seems to be conquest-mating rituals, cross breeding experimentation, and/or outright genetic manipulation of our species. In addition, some of their texts we have managed to translate contain words phonetically similar to several Earth languages. There are indications some of their grammar—and even a few symbols—are similar too. These apparent ancient alien correlations to our species are unsettling to say the least. Recommend the Angorgal matter be treated with the utmost secrecy. The few of us privy to the details have started using the code phrase “Mineral 99” in reference to them. If there no objections, I shall henceforth include the Mineral 99 caveat on communiques regarding the matter.

  Sensitive Compartmentalized Intelligence

  **EXEC**LEVEL I DISSEM**ONLY**

  Eigil Damgaard, Chief Archeologist

  Science, Research, and Development Branch

  Frontier Combine Metallurgical Enterprise

  Classified Internal Communication, 19 April 2312

  Chapter 1

  Listening Post

  In the holy Ei’veth Forest of Mokisia, beneath a bright, setting gas giant known as Sceytera, the dawn hour found young Zyvolz “Zy” K’olt still asleep in his swaying hammock. His family’s modest stonework home hummed as automated timers brightened the lights in hallways and the kitchen, where appliances sorted their stored ingredients and prepared fresh meals for Zy and his parents.

  Today’s Nihavian holiday meant stuffed yuttah would be served all day. Zy’s father harvested some of the ingredients from his own water garden: herbal ferns and eggs from mud fish. These would be rolled together and thickened into a shell with the grains of speckled grasses that grew across Mokisia.

  The main ingredient for inside the shell—filleted tad toads marinated in palm oils—had to be ordered through traders in the nearby Mokisiaan capital city. Tad toads came from the equatorial belts, far south of the forestlands, but remained a delicacy to modern Angorgals, whose evolutionary roots stretched to the tropics.

  A mutation—the development of a stomach sack—had brought proto-Angorgals north. Like a hamster’s cheek pouches, an Angorgal’s stomach sack stored food for later digestion, when a cold-blooded body needed extra energy, pumped through blood vessels by twin hearts.

  Outside, a few bright rays from the rising, blue sun showered light onto flocks of chirping bats heading to their nearby caves. Like passing clouds from the nearby geyser grounds, the swarms cast brief shadows upon Zy’s home and across the clear ceiling dome above his bedroom.

  Until Zy awoke, the whispered voices in his dreams spoke to him again, and images of the heavens reappeared. Countless stars shared space with Sceytera, her six moons, and another light. A blue light. A hissing blue light with a flaming, whipping tail.

&nbs
p; He exhaled and his body shook. The hammock croaked as Zy rolled onto his side and stretched his dark green arms.

  <><>

  “Please be vigilant out there. A friend or two as companions would be best, Zy, and would settle my worrisome hearts.”

  “Mother, please, I’ll be fine. Besides, my friends can’t keep up with me. No one can keep up with me. I move really fast.”

  “But what of the wild animals?”

  “If you leave them alone, they leave you alone. Besides, I move really fast.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard something like that before. Nihav has truly blessed you with tremendous physical gifts. And such pretty blue eyes too. They are like the sun! You should try to give thanks to Him more often.”

  “If you say it, it must be so, and so shall it be done, Mother. Bye.”

  “Be careful, Zy. The forest must be respected…”

  With his mother’s words trailing off behind him, Zy left his home in the dense woods within an hour after sunrise. As the teenaged son of an agronomist, rising early was routine. But this morning was different for the Mokisiaan Angorgal. With no chores or school on the agenda, he headed out to the rugged highlands above his home for the simple benefit of refreshing exercise. Staying in shape for the pretty females at school was his priority and these occasional day hikes maintained his strong bipedal reptilian physique.

  The forest’s idyllic beauty had surrounded Zy his whole life. Seeing it now under the warm sun was invigorating and brought life to his muscles.

  Chirps, squeaks, and howls of the forest—a lively composition from a multitude of animals that fluttered and dashed—sang to him. Despite rising exertion and strain, he smiled, revealing neat rows of sharp, white teeth.

  The sun’s blue rays peeked between tall pine trees, twinkling beacons of encouragement that drove Zy to the highest elevations above his home without stopping.

  In full daylight now, he reached a clearing at the pinnacle of Alp D’or and rested. Zy squinted to the south. He couldn’t see Mokisia’s capital city. Too distant for the naked eye, but he knew it was there. Not that he had any desire to go there, he just liked to look toward it and recall its sprawling granite contours and endless serpentine transpo-tubes. Sometimes, he borrowed a friend’s binoculars for these hikes, but not on this day.

  As he strolled the summit, Zy rehydrated and dropped a stuffed, fist-sized yuttah into his mouth. He soon turned his thoughts away from the scenery and to several of his female classmates who had occupied most of his spare time and his teenaged fantasies. With stunning natural beauty surrounding him, Zy’s joyful, hormone-induced daydreams grew more vibrant than ever. He took it as a sign that he was nearing the age of service, a point at which a young Angorgal blossomed into physical primacy and when, by tradition, he would negotiate his first path as an adult.

  Zy frowned when he realized that, as always, he didn’t have a clue where his first path would lead him. “I am fast,” he reminded himself. “Like a comet, I am fast.”

  Then, a sudden swirling breeze carrying the scent of incense and the sound of holy chants swept through the trees and wrapped around Zy. His daydreams melted, and he felt radiant warmth grow inside him and shoot through every inch of his body. It emerged as a brilliant flash, white-hot and then a cool blue.

  ”Kal’iveth, when the heavens fall, you will carry the sword and shield in my name, and lead the fight against evil in the stars.”

  The resolute voice boomed through Zy’s head. Between the light in his eyes and the words in his ears, Zy lost his footing. The next thing he felt was the ground in his face.

  “OW!”

  Uninjured but confused, Zy turned, seeking an explanation for the mysterious interruption. He saw no one. But, a dark thicket of trees near the southern edge of the precipice put a strange twist in his gut. After a hesitant climb from the ground, Zy dusted himself off and let his muscular legs plod him toward the strangeness that tugged at him.

  <><>

  A Sekkalan Angorgal, an infiltrator, had no time for the unexpected, approaching enemy. He stood at a critical—and final—juncture in his long-term passive electronic eavesdropping mission in the woods of Alp D’or. According to his orders, his job to spy on the nearby Mokisiaan capital culminated in one minute, just long enough to transmit the last bits of data about the enemy’s activities. Once that minute terminated, he intended to disconnect his gear, initiate its self-destruct program, and then address the unfortunate intruder.

  <><>

  The more Zy advanced toward the thicket, the more its appearance played tricks on his eyes. It was not just a dense growth of trees. Camouflage nets like those used by hunters hung across tree branches, concealing…something.

  Knowing that both religious and civil laws forbade hunting in the sacred Ei’veth Forest, Zy continued his tepid steps forward. Under the nets, a circular metal structure, two meters across and nearly waist high, appeared dug into the ground.

  Then, Zy heard something.

  Occasional bursts of electronic static hissed at him from within the metallic maw.

  <><>

  The pilot of an SA-27 Sobek stealth rotorcraft redlined the turbine engines ever since he and the crew of special operators lifted off ten minutes ago. They had departed from a covert military base in Mokisia’s capital and flew north to the Ei’veth Forest. Their mission: investigate unusual electromagnetic data pulses originating from the crest of Alp D’or.

  “Sixty seconds,” the pilot said over the intercom.

  The team of six special operators readied their weapons and prepared for a fast drop into the target area.

  <><>

  With the edge of a cliff nearby, Zy crouched along the side of the small, half-buried metal structure. A single hatch and multiple dish and whip antennae adorned its flat roof.

  The electronic static ceased.

  Zy waited a few seconds and then said, “Uh…Hello?”

  The screech of grinding metal drew Zy’s eyes toward the hatch. Its handle turned.

  “Hello?” Zy said, standing and taking a step back.

  A faint and repeating whoop-thump noise swiveled Zy’s attention away from the hatch. He squinted. A black aircraft approached. The fierce, penetrating sounds of its rotor blades and engines intensified.

  “What the…?”

  Whoop-thump…

  Zy turned back to the camouflaged structure. Its hatch stood open.

  Whoop-THUMP…

  In a blur, a red-chested Angorgal—just like the history books had described—lunged and grabbed ahold of him. The monster’s sharp clutch and putrid breath injected fear into Zy’s body and soul. Its grasp shivered through him as if an icy torrent had been unleashed from the darkest of hell storms.

  WHOOP-THUMP…

  Blue bolts of energy flashed around Zy in a dusty haze. Zy fell and saw nothing but darkness, even before he closed his eyes.

  In the monster’s clutches, Zy disappeared through the hatch and into the depths below.

  Chapter 2

  Ambush

  Six months later…

  Apprehension gripped Sergeant Rukkali. While staring at the spherical gates ahead, he leaned toward his commander and said, “That’s some dark ink, Captain.”

  Captain Thotka-Luen just nodded.

  Rukkali unhooked the locking piston on his combat helmet and lifted it clear of his scaly head. He scratched at an irritating tick burrowing amid the leathery folds at the corner of his mouth. His intense dark eyes remained focused on the rippling surface of the hemisphere dominating the view in front of them.

  The shimmering bridgehead measured fifty meters across, typical of any other quantum bridge linking the Angorgal moons. The bridges existed in multiple wormhole patterns that linked all six of the habitable moons in orbit around Sceytera. The surface of the bridge’s spherical gates was supposed to display a vision of what existed beyond, though it would be thickened and distorted, like an oil painter’s impression of the real thing. Tra
velers called the gate’s rippling substance “ink.”

  The bridge facing the reconnaissance force led to the Angorgal moon named Sekkalan, however, this particular sphere offered the Mokisiaan soldiers a darkness they’d never seen before. The vison of midnight black, run through with random smears of low light, caused some of the Angorgal troops from Mokisia to tremble in fear…

  <><>

  The quantum bridges had grown out of the need for safe space travel between the moons, eight of which had comprised Sceytera’s orbit. An asteroid collision eons ago with one of them later destroyed a second from its debris. This riddled the system with innumerable and treacherous space rocks, and led to endless, ancient Angorgal myths about sky demons whose purpose was to finish off all of Sceytera’s moons, not to mention the Angorgals too.

  But after the monotheistic Angorgals on Mokisia emerged from a long and bloody religious struggle with their divisive, polytheistic brethren, they grew more advanced. They peered at the other five moons above their heads and—out of wonder and a sense of destiny—sought to reach them someday. They hoped to find more Angorgals or other intelligent life there, allies who would embrace Nihav’s fundamental lessons in unity, strength, and peace.

  With scientific perseverance and a sense of religious mission, the Mokisiaans first established robust systems to defend against the persistent asteroid threat, a very real danger that continued to kill many inhabitants of their moon.

  They also developed spacecraft that carried explorers and some colonists to the other five moons, but at great loss. The asteroids still made space travel too hazardous and many early vessels succumbed to the danger. Those who did survive the journey found no other Angorgals or other intelligent life to greet them upon arrival.

  Colonization efforts halted. Researchers went underground. Decades passed, but some Mokisiaans persevered. To this day, many Angorgal children are named after them.

  Scientists emerged with a radical alternative that involved harnessing the power of wormholes in the form of “bridges” that connected the moons with each other. At first, the Mokisiaan space program still relied on ships to transport necessary resources and equipment to the moons. But once in place and functioning, the quantum bridges changed all of that.