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  THE OUTWORLDS

  Book II

  RESURGENCE

  Daniel P. Douglas

  Copyright © 2019 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.

  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

  In The Outworlds, 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.

  In Resurgence, while on a mission of discovery about an extinct reptilian alien species at the fringe of human existence, Second Lieutenant Jerod Eastaway confronts his inexperience and insecurities while battling a horrible foe with traumatic ties to his family and childhood. On a deadly collision course with destiny, Eastaway struggles to survive and prevent evil’s power and strength from advancing against humanity.

  Resurgence is a novella and the second book in The Outworlds series. It follows War Torrent, and the series is comprised of science fiction adventure stories set in the early twenty-fourth century at the fringe of human civilization. Be sure to join the ensuing battle against evil in the next installment of The Outworlds series, entitled Resurgence II.

  Thanks for giving Resurgence a read. I hope you enjoy it.

  “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,

  but because of the people who don't do anything about it.”

  – Albert Einstein

  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

  – Romans 12:21

  Prologue

  Lizard Men

  Blue lightning sizzled over the heads of the terrified, warm-blooded prey, trapping them in ever tightening topography. Hovering just above the hot desert, sky ships spewed fire from their heat weapons. To the prey—Earth’s humans of 15,000 B.C.—the sky ships looked like giant, fire-breathing, smoke-spewing tortoises. The sky ships then delivered hunters—cold-blooded, red-chested, bi-pedal reptilian creatures—onto the ground.

  The hunters set loose by the sky ships flicked their forked tongues. Their bodies absorbed the desert heat, accelerating their metabolisms. With heightened speed, the killers overwhelmed and surrounded the fleeing humans. Although both humanoid, the internal differences of both species were vast. Not the internal organs that performed vital functions to sustain their existence, but their blood differences—and the hunters' cravings—made them so alien to each other.

  The “lizard men,” as the ancient humans called the lethal intruders, didn’t eat their quarry’s flesh. Instead, they seemed to hunger for their life energy, their inner souls. The magical black apparatus some of the hunters harnessed onto their backs disabled the humans in an invisible way. The device had tentacle arms that reached around its carrier like the legs of a large, black insect. The insect’s head attached to the back of the neck of the lizard who wielded it. In the eyes of the ancient humans, victims seized by the black device lost their minds or succumbed to lifelessness.

  Sometimes, after the lizard men subdued their victims, a frenzy engulfed them. Violent sexual gratification followed. It didn’t matter if the victim was dead or alive, male or female, the violent ritual ensued.

  Most mothers took their own lives before getting too far along. In rare cases, a few babies were born, but these aberrations never lived long. Death at the hands of the mother or from others in the tribe took care of that.

  A scarcity of the beasts born out of the ravages managed to survive delivery, but only because their reptilian progenitors stood guard. At best, they protected the thing as an experiment—a research subject—and not as a new addition to the family. No love, no joy. Then they always took it away.

  More sky ships corralled the latest herd of human prey into a narrow arroyo. The walls on either side of the dry riverbed grew higher. The red-chested ones, on foot now, chased after the fleeing humans.

  Nothing stood in their way.

  The black tentacle weapon one of the lizard men carried disabled entire groups with its menacing invisible reach. Victims fell. Some of the hunters carried them away to their sky ships. A few humans fought back, but the lizard men cut them down without delay.

  An unbridled frenzy ensued.

  A small boy, restrained and beaten, witnessed his mother’s rape and murder just steps away. They had slaughtered his father earlier. Tears streamed down the boy’s dirty cheeks. Fear and sadness paralyzed him. Evil pinned him down.

  From above, a sudden, thunderous disturbance deafened the child. A sky ship roared by overhead.

  Ignoring the noise, the boy’s lizard man attacker raised his arm, preparing to hack the child to death with his dead father’s stone axe.

  The boy flinched and shut tight his eyes.

  The sound of swift movements, followed by sliding metal, thumps, and death howls raked his ears.

  Tightened grips loosened. And the boy felt no pain.

  He opened his eyes.

  A different lizard man stood over him, hand outstretched. The boy looked around. Dead monsters laid all around him. He gazed again at the lizard man standing over him. This one had a blue chest and held a bloodied bladed weapon. He had never seen a blue-chested lizard man before, only the ones with red—blood red—on them. The lizard man tried to speak to the boy, but he did not understand. Still, the child felt his fear slip away. This creature’s additional unique feature of blue eyes seemed like a loving sky, adding to the boy’s growing sense of safety.

  He accepted the lizard man’s hand, and the creature hoisted the boy upward onto his back, where he slid him beneath a circular shield slung there.

  That day, while protected on his rescuer's back, the boy moved swifter than he ever imagined possible…

  Chapter 1

  Demons

  ***DECODED TECHINT COLLECT FILE ALERT***

  //SUSPECT NORTHERN REPUBLIC FRONT ENTITY//

  Aiguo - Chen Import Export Ltd.

  São Paulo, Brazil

  Southern Alliance

  September 2312

  “Beautiful Sunrise attracted yet another proposition.”

  “That reminds me—I need to call a plumber about yet another leak.”

  “You should have her over. She’d find the weak links before they start spilling.”

  “My wife would get jealous. What’s the nature of the proposition this time?”

  “A parapsychology expert on Oeskone—”

  “On where?”

  “A fringe planet in the Outworlds.”

  “Aren’t they all fringe planets in the Outworlds?”

  “Some are more so than others. This one is more so.”

  “So, a parapsychology expert on Oeskone…?”

  “…Offers the glorious Chinese Conglomerate classified Combine information they refer to as ‘Mineral Ninety-Nine.’”

  “It has a certain ring to it. What’s the nature of the information?”

  “This is where it gets interesting.”

  “Doesn’t it always?”

  “Not like this.”

  “Then don’t let me stop you.”

  “Aliens.”

&
nbsp; “When is it supposed to get interesting?”

  “Not slithering secretions or mindless deformed fur balls. Intelligent, civilization-building aliens of an advanced nature.”

  “Hmm…. You may proceed.”

  “The Combine is bumping into relics and remains in the Outworlds from a species they call Angorgal.”

  “Something caught in your throat?”

  “It gets better. Supposedly, they’re extinct reptilian-humanoids, but at some point before they perished – maybe fifteen to twenty thousand years ago – they traveled to Earth.”

  “As tourists?”

  “Not exactly--”

  “Hmm…hmm… Abraham Harel mixed up in this?”

  “I did say it would be interesting.”

  “That crazy bastard…should have had an unfortunate accident in prison.”

  “Missed opportunities.”

  “This won’t go over well with the bosses.”

  “Maybe. But then again, perhaps there were reasons why he survived prison?”

  “Let’s not unstitch those intrigues now. Beyond our paygrades. You said these aliens were ‘advanced.’ Any tech involved?”

  “Weapons of a telekinetic nature.”

  “Hence the parapsychology expert?”

  “A niche specialty in recent demand on Oeskone, apparently.”

  “What else?”

  “Ship tech, and something the Combine has interpreted as ‘God Dust.’”

  “Dear Lord--what is that?”

  “A mysterious mineral that boosts armor and projectiles with super powers.”

  “I may like these Angorgal after all. What’s his motivation and access? I assume the parapsychology expert is a he, considering Beautiful Sunrise is involved.”

  “Beyond a compromising fascination with sexy Chinese women, he likes money. His access runs the gamut from direct to varying shades of indirect depending on topic.”

  “And reliability?”

  “We’ve corroborated the Combine’s code word use of ‘Mineral Ninety-Nine’ and its relation to an unidentified alien matter. Beautiful Sunrise assesses he’s on the books for Combine Intel.”

  “A money-motivated freelancer seeking multiple revenue streams possibly mixed up in the biggest wickedness since Eve listened to that damn snake.”

  “I told you it would be interesting.”

  “I think he is in over his head. And considering he propositioned Beautiful Sunrise, he’s a dead man walking as far as I am concerned.”

  “Now who’s jealous?”

  “We should engage the environment with an alternative. A known, proven quantity. With skills. A variety of skills. You know who I have in mind.”

  “Some baggage and trust issues there these days.”

  “Some carry that kind of shit better than others. Besides, if we are, in fact, dealing with our blacker than black resurgence shit, there a very few we can lean on for help. Very few who are read in.”

  “Understood.”

  “Have Beautiful Sunrise float funds toward her new parapsychology beau—”

  “From the Beijing or Shanghai accounts?”

  “Neither. Hong Kong. Then, she should task him to find out what human capital needs exist on Oeskone. I'm sure our read-in asset is capable of filling the void. But let's verify first.”

  “And after that?”

  “Sacrifices need to be made to advance our position and diminish that of any others. I’m sure there are plenty of folks in the Outworlds who’d appreciate tips about known or suspected Combine Intel sources.”

  <><>

  Republican Expeditionary Force

  Clandestine Orbital Platform

  Above Saturn’s Moon, Titan

  Early in the meeting called in haste, most of the headquarters brass stuffed inside the expansive executive conference room narrowed their eyes and wrinkled their brows.

  Four rotating holographic images floated and rotated in the center of the gathering:

  A partially reconstructed figure of a red-chested bipedal reptilian humanoid; some of its parts looked mechanical.

  A black metal harness contraption with tentacle arms that reached around its reptilian carrier from its back; the tentacles looked like the legs of a large, black insect, and the insect’s head attached to the back of the reptilian’s neck by way of a circular suction- cup device.

  A blacker-than-night vessel—a freighter of small to medium size—with three large forward-angled rectangular concaved antennae half-sunken into its top hull; and

  A set of blue-chested exoskeleton armor—too large for most humans—along with a round, hand-held shield, and double-edged short sword similar to a Roman gladius.

  Commander Selig Chai, a senior briefer from the Republican Expeditionary Force’s intelligence branch, stood his ground before the suspicious group and swallowed hard. Weighing the significant implications of the overall situation, Chai faced down the indignant collection of headquarters officers and reiterated the key point of his briefing.

  “I know it may be difficult to accept, but the intel is pretty solid they reached Earth many centuries ago. The repercussions of their potential genetic manipulation—”

  Several generals and admirals interrupted Chai with pointed fingers and a chorus of accusations, curses, and questions. A number of other headquarters executive staff pushed back from the table and folded their arms.

  A shaky hand rose above the unsettled crowd at the table.

  Commander Chai shifted and saw the hand belonged to Rear Admiral Percival Jenkins. He nodded at the admiral without trying to speak above the din.

  Admiral Jenkins kept his hand raised, locked his eyes onto Chai’s, and waited. Once the room’s clamor had subsided, Jenkins lowered his arm and said, “Strict, limited access to all of this is obvious, of course. I’m sure the protocols are already in place. But, in your estimation, does the Chinese Conglomerate know about any of this intelligence?”

  The question weighed heavily on Chai and, no doubt, concerned everyone present in the briefing room. Chai’s own mind now spun. How many leaks had REF intelligence uncovered in recent months? Too many. Their discovery had always indicated a Chinese Conglomerate attack waited just over the horizon.

  “Although we don’t have any solid indicators,” Chai said, “we should assume they have some level of knowledge.” He waved off the new upsurge of finger-pointing and grumbling. “Although limited, the various reports about this situation originated in the fringe, the edges of the frontier, where we lack control and where loyalties are elusive and for sale. For this reason, we should assume the Chinese Conglomerate has acquired some level of intelligence on the matter.”

  Admiral Jenkins nodded his head. Others around the table took note of his action and mimicked it in resigned agreement.

  “Then we need to get on this and fast,” a stern, energetic voice, said. Heads swiveled in its direction and Chai took a few steps to his left to identify its source. The confident voice boomed again. “The bastards must know of these things if we do by now. We need to get on this, and get on this now, before any of the wrong people get too far ahead of us.”

  Chai finished his side step and found the officer behind the sturdy voice. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. Images of two historical charismatic leaders flashed through his mind. General Zaira Rossi leaned back in her chair, hands clasped behind her head, looking like a less-than-subtle blend of Golda Meir and General George S. Patton on a bad day.

  “We can’t let them gain any edge over us,” General Rossi said, “especially in the area of weapons technology. Where’s the best starting point, Commander Chai?”

  The group of mostly male senior officers presented no interjections to General Rossi’s remarks. In fact, the room full of headquarters executive staff sat there quiet for a change.

  Poised to answer General Rossi, Chai hesitated. The silence in the conference room beckoned him for a response, but Chai stared back at the abyss. He knew what to say, and what t
he decision would be. But what about the outcome? Chai forced himself to surrender his fears of an uncertain and potentially deadly future. “Oeskone,” he said. “The Outworlds. Combine territory.”

  In the frontier, but especially in the Outworlds, the Frontier Combine Metallurgical Enterprise (FCME) reigned supreme. The FCME stood out as the foremost interplanetary corporation involved in the identification, gathering, processing, and distribution of minerals and other geological materials. Most people simply referred to the FCME as “the Combine.” Still others, those dissatisfied or disgruntled in some way or another with it, called it “Fuck Me.” Regardless, the Combine existed almost everywhere in the frontier, and governments comprised many of its biggest clients. Which governments? All of them. They would likely collapse without the Combine’s access to vital resources and expansive logistical infrastructure.

  But Chai perceived that something else—an anticipated topic—occupied General Rossi’s thoughts. She narrowed her eyes into slits. Anger enflamed her features. “Abraham Harel?” she said, huffing out the name.

  Chai nodded and said, “Reporting indicates involvement. Yes.”

  “How that twisted scientist ever survived prison is—” General Rossi cut herself off and shook her head. She exhaled a calming breath, and while pointing at the holographic images, said, “Then without drawing attention, we must waste no time in locating and procuring. Influencing a field test engagement on Oeskone should also be considered in light of anticipated Chinese Conglomerate aggression. Perhaps evaluate with a small force first, and then see how we need to ratchet up from there. Planning should start immediately. We must be as expedient as possible now in order to save lives later.”

  Multiple grunts and nods of agreement spread through the room. Even Commander Chai nodded, despite the nausea rising in his gut.