The pirate.rogue character from the War for Terra breaks out in his own novel. Connor Jakes takes a wild ride from the pages of Resolute Victory to the depths of the human soul.
Pirate. Rogue. Thief. Warrior. Lover. Hero
Connor Jakes has been called many things. Torn from the pages of the War for Terra series, The Adventures of Connor Jakes explores the mysteries behind the character and expands the universe of possibilities.
It's a dangerous galaxy and it takes dangerous men to unravel its mysteries. Connor Jakes has old scores to settle and new adventures to explore. The Corsairs have all but abandoned the pirate captain when he needs them the most. Journeying to far-off planets and fighting new and frightening enemies, Connor Jakes will experience the heights of victory and the depths of the human soul. Secret missions and even more secretive villains will tear away all that you think you know about Connor, leaving you breathless and on the edge of your seat.
The Adventures of Connor Jakes bridges a gap between the end of the War for Terra series and the newer adventures of the battleship Resolute.
Excerpt
Overture
“When the war ended, so did the story of a lot of folks. Jakes’ story was just beginning.”
Alfredo Ortiz
The Stars, My Heart
Terpsichore Station
During the War
Connor Jakes slid sideways on boots slicked by artificial mud. His head was pounding and he could feel the pulse of blood in his ears. As his body slid into the metal wall of the station corridor, he swore to several different hells he knew of. Picking himself off the floor and launching into a headlong run down the hall, Jakes could still feel the pressure of the beast behind him. His lungs burned from the stench of the creature. The run was scraping his lungs raw with each breath.
A screech echoed from the corridor he had just left. The thick walls of the station trembled from the power. Jakes raised his hands to his ears again to shield himself from the noise. He stumbled from the unbalanced position again and landed hard on his elbows. The sound was nearly deafening even at the distance from the turn. He pushed himself up with a grimace and tried to get to his feet. Another roar of sound flattened him to the ground and forced his hands over his ears.
“Shut the hell up!” he roared in response to the creature, not expecting it to listen. “I’m tryin’ to think!”
Jakes looked around as the sound began to abate. He was at a cross corridor again with doors on either end of the long hall. In front of him, the hall extended another hundred meters and turned to the right. He looked back to the crossroad and tried to figure out his location. He hadn’t been on the station long enough to have memorized all the routes to the hangars, but felt he must be close. Choosing a side, Jakes pressed against the floor and took to his feet. His boots were still slick but kept their grip even as his head swam from the blood rush.
The hallway was short and the door marked with alien glyphs. He felt for the pad near the door. The station had not been built by humans and the pad reflected the generic wide width of an alien appendage. He pressed hard but the door refused to activate. Sliding over to get a better look, Jakes saw a series of crosses in an octagonal pattern on the pad. He randomly pressed the crosses but the door again refused to cooperate. He felt the station shudder again as another blast of sound raced down the corridor behind him. Cursing again, he patted his hand along the deep pockets of the black trousers he wore. Not finding what he was searching for, he reached around to the other side while trying to cover one ear with the other hand. A sharp intake of breath was lost in the sound as he found the small device. He dropped his hand and extracted a thin, flat disc from the pocket. He squeezed the disc and a shaft of purplish light shone forth.
The crosses glowed in an uneven pattern. Some were brighter than others and had splotchy stains, visible only from the light of the disc. Jakes examined the splotches carefully before putting the disc back in his pocket. The shrieking had finally stopped and he could concentrate again. There was a faint sound like rustling fabric from far behind him. A shiver of fear ran down his back as he reached up and tapped a sequence out on the crosses. There was no response from the door. He tapped again, changing the sequence slightly. Again, the door stayed shut.
“Come on you piece of…”
The sound was swallowed in another bellow of sound from behind him. He pressed out a third sequence and was rewarded by a puff of air from the opening door. He leapt through the opening and pressed his hand to the pad on the inside. This time, the door responded immediately, closing and sealing him off from the corridor. The abrupt quiet left him feeling strangely empty. The room lights flickered on and he surveyed his surroundings.
The room was large but stuffed to the ceiling with crates and metal tubes. He stepped along the edge of the wall, feeling a slight tremor from beyond but still not hearing any sound. There was a path through the crates and Jakes walked further into the storage bay. He could not hear the sound of his own boots on the metal deck. As the ringing in his ears began to receded, he shook his head to clear his brain. An idea began to form and he increased his pace. If the storage bay was insulated for sound, it may have an airlock opening.
The crates seemed to be standard maintenance components as well as some non-biological chemical packs. He couldn’t see anything useful in the first few boxes and moved further to the back of the room. There was a nagging voice in his mind he could not quite hear. The screeching from the station corridor was still upsetting his thinking. He stepped around a large stack of thin boxes and saw the most beautiful thing he could remember besides Melaina Petros.
The loader suit was gray and stained with oil and dirt from countless jobs in the hold. It stood on its own in the corner with a small port plugged into a wall socket. Despite being on Terpsichore, the suit was meant for something human sized with two arms and two legs. As Jakes approached, he saw a thin layer of dust on the shoulders and exposed kneepads of the suit. Whoever had parked it here had not used it in a long time. Connor prayed the servos in the joints had not frozen up from inactivity. He pulled the rounded helmet from the suit and pressed the small activator. Diodes lit up around the facemask. A small heads-up grew in size, showing diagnostics for the suit.
“Hot! Damn.” Jakes muttered as he set the helmet down and began to unstrap the suit from the wall. He pulled the legs over his trousers and fastened the belt harness. The upper torso was heavy and clumsy to put on alone, but Jakes had worn one before. The gloves shrunk around his hands as his fingertips pressed the switches. He had to stomp the feet a few times before the servos kicked in. The mechanical assistance for the loading suit made it easier to move the suit.
As Jakes reached for the helmet, he heard the sound of the voice again. This time, he realized it wasn’t inside his head. It was coming from the comm system of the suit. He pulled the helmet down and locked it into place.
“…Resolute calling any personnel on board Terpsichore station. Please respond. We are sending a boarding party to the number three dome airlock. Repeating message. This is the battleship Resolute calling any…”
The voice was smooth and cultured and Jakes thought he recognized it. If Resolute was orbiting the station he might have a chance to make it off in one piece. He used the tracking system in the suit to try to signal out. He had ordered the Corsairs to move away and hide until he called them. It was a decision he regretted the first time he saw one of the creatures howling. The transceiver array showed it was receiving but not able to transmit.
There was a thunderous sound from the other side of the room. Jakes froze as the pounding on the door increased in frequency and strength. He glanced around the storage bay, desperately seeking anything that could help him if the beast managed to open the door. The fact of the noise made him understand it had already battered away the outer layer of metal. He shut down the incoming comm and activated the noise cancelling feature of the loader. Spotting a panel, Jakes stepped over to the farthest wall. The controls sprang to life under his glove but he could not read the alien script.
“Well that figures.” Jakes said, slapping the wall.
The sound of tearing metal intruded past the noise cancelling software. Jakes spun around, the suit causing him to over-extend the movement and fall to one knee. Jakes looked towards the entrance. White light was streaming in from the corridor, creating shadows against the yellowish glow of the bay’s lights. The door had been breached and Jakes felt the cold trickle of fear down his back.
Pushing off from the floor, Connor felt his feet leave the deck. The suit’s servos caused him to jump nearly three meters from where he had been. He landed hard and went down to his knee again. The crate he landed on was marked for portable energy packs. He pressed a panel on the crate and the crate slid open. Reaching inside, he pulled out one of the portable batteries. Given a chance, he might be able to rig up a short range transmission. If nothing else, he could send out a repeater signal to Resolute that might attract attention.
“Well, alright then.” Jakes said to himself, a smile crossing his lips. He shoved the pack into one of the wide pockets on the suit and zipped it up.
The suit’s power assist had been meant to aid in lifting heavy crates and withstand extreme pressures. Without a load, the servos were giving him added strength and power. He wished it gave him agility to go with it but took whatever he could get. Leaping away from the deck, Jakes jumped to the top of a stack of crates. He could see the shadow of his pursuer moving among the boxes. There was pressure on his chest and a keening sound coming through the mask. The creature was wailing again and Jakes thanked whatever fate guided him for the noise cancelling system.
He leapt from one crate to the other, carefully avoiding the direct sight of the beast. As he approached the dorm the pressure on his chest increased. He looked around but still saw no sight of the creature. He hopped to the deck near the entrance and pressed himself against the nearest crate. The creature had already moved further into the maze of crates, giving Jakes a clear path to the door. After a few calming breaths, Connor stepped towards the mangled wreckage of the door.
The sound penetrated the armored shell of the loader suit, pushing Jakes back into a stack of crates. The second creature stepped into the frame of the door and howled. Jakes shook his head and stared. The new arrival was larger than the first and packed more power. Jakes steeled himself for another attack as the creature stepped over the slag of the door. It raised its head high and pulled heavily on the air in the room.
Jakes moved, he pushed off the crate behind him and began to run. As the beast lowered its head for another blast, Connor lowered his own head and jumped. The servos carried him a meter from the deck under the beast’s head. He curled over and tumbled. He could feel the heat of the melted metal against his back as he rolled between the creature’s legs and into the corridor. Losing control, Jakes slammed into the far wall of the corridor. Looking back, he saw the beast bend fully forward, looking at him from between its own legs. It had lost the sonic blast in a puff of surprise at his maneuver but he couldn’t rely on that forever.
He turned quickly and started back down the hall. His heads-up showed him the local area map of the station. As he turned the corner back into the hallway he had left before, he heard the vibrations of another blast of sound. Gaining his bearings, he ran back the way he came. The servos in the suit had begun to smell strange and he could feel the sweat against his skin.
All he wanted was for Resolute to take him away from this place; that, and to have Melaina waiting with a cup of strong coffee. And maybe a hot shower…
Nine New Novellas, Part III is a collection of nine sci-fi/paranormal stories to complement the nine in Nine New Novellas, Nine New Novellas Part II and Nine New Novellas, Part IV.
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