Final Solution Sci Fi Novel - "How far is too far?"

8/2/2019 Final Solution Sci Fi Novel - "How far is too far?"

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Final Solution

By: Michael W. Davis

How far is too far?

(Buy locations available at Davisstories.com)

Early Review

“This is a story that pulls at your brain, and your heart. Logan Riggs, our hero, fights hard for

what he thinks is right, and he loves just as passionately… I have no minuses, or caveats. Its a

remarkably good story, well thought out, touching, and very worth every bit of ! stars.”

De Critique Reviews - 5 stars

Oter boo! reviews" awar#s an# vi#eos available at Davisstories.com

BlurbThree stellar wars have stretched the ability of Earth’s ruling authority, the

Council, to control the populace across twelve star systems. Unrest among thepeople threatens the oppressive reign of the government and they’re left with but

one option: to execute the inal !olution. Their grand scheme is so abominable,so immoral" should the truth lea# out, it could threaten stability of the $ew %rder

and incite open rebellion. or their plan to succeed, they must depend on the

uni&ue talents of one telepathic man and his blue s#inned wife. The couplebecome unwilling pawns to help the Council expand beyond 'ominion space into

new regions of the galaxy. They unravel lies within lies and discover the Council’sscheme ris#s, not (ust the $ew Earth Empire, but the very fabric of the universe.

The destiny of humanity itself, and the &uest to resolve the ultimate enigma of all

sentient beings, falls upon the unli#ely duo.

E$CER%&'

One

The darkness spattered with flashes, micro explosions in the distance. Blasterbolts, bright laser beams, missiles searching for a designated IR or radar

signature. Voices cried out, human, alien. Pain, agony, despair, and finally

prayers. ebris, metal, chunks of flesh blown outward in all directions.)ogan (umped from the bun#. *Cali, get up, now+

*-hat’s wrong



*/ thin# we’ve drifted into the middle of a damn battlefront. The ship (oltedsideways. *!hit, ta#e this, put it on. 0e extracted two Envirosuits from the

storage rac# and extended the smaller one to his wife while stepping into the

other. )ogan raced into the command module. 1right lights, bursts of blue andred filled the view port outside their coc#pit as far as he could see.

*This is why he was here, the scout, only this time, loo#s li#e things aredifferent.

Cali sealed her suit. *-hat do you mean *!ee the blue explosions, / thin# they’re 2npian, and / #now the red ones

are from 'ominion forces. 2ppears losses are roughly e&ual on both sides. /

guess now that / Corp bro#e the encryption codes of the alien communicationchannels, things wouldn’t be so lopsided.

!econds turned to minutes as the battle raged far off and all around theirship. *'amn, the front has spread everywhere. 'idn’t thin# the 'ominion had

that many interceptor ships left.

!everal craft from each side strea#ed by their vessel. *)ogan, why aren’t

the 2npians firing at us */ thin# it’s because their instruments tell them we’re no threat. %ur

engines are shut down. -e’re on standby power only and our low3grade

armaments are shut off. They don’t fire at inactive ob(ects, otherwise they’d #eep

blasting destroyed fighters and that’s a bad use of limited assault resources. */ thin# we should leave right now.

*-e can’t. !oon as we bring our engines on line it will light up the sensorsin the 2npian ships near by, and they’ll figure we’ve been playing possum" #noc#

us right out of the s#y.

Cali returned her ga4e outside and crossed her fingers together beneathher chin. *2ll the pain, the death, / sense the destruction to machine and life

even from this distance. 5et from so far away, the carnage is delusional. )ogan nodded. */ #now. /’ve seen it before. /t’s always the same in these

ma(or battles. *-hen

*/’ve been in a half a do4en force3on3force confrontations. /t always felt6/

don’t #now, / guess the individual life and death exchanges when expandedacross a hundred thousand mile battlefront becomes surreal, #ind of a conflict

between your intellect and your visual senses. The mind tells you that beings aredying every few seconds, yet your eyeballs become enraptured by all the colors

and flashes.

2s they watched from afar, he felt Cali’s small hand search for his. *7ysecond stellar level battle occurred off the moon of )ateen, (ust inside the

asteroid belt of the !igma 'raconis star system. / was in the reserve units behindthe front evaluating the progress of each s#irmish, then ma#ing ad(ustments.

*-hat #ind of ad(ustments

*!ometimes /’d have unit telepaths within the s&uadrons shift their focus toan impending change in the enemy’s %rder of 1attle. )i#e if a commander from

the other side decided to bring up his reserves. /’d detect such shifts the momentit was a mere thought in one of their 8eneral )evel officers. Then, while they



issued orders to their individual division sub3commanders, /’d send our forces toambush them, li#e a spider waiting for the beetle to drop into his trap.

Cali appeared confused. *5ou6/ never reali4ed6the things you did, so many

falling because of6 0e cut her off. *%ther times, once the enemy’s numbers dwindled, /’d

refocus on individual attac#s versus their command decisions. 2t that phase ofthe conflict, /’d simply ma#e an adversary shoot at targets that weren’t there, or

ignore our ships vectoring up their ass, or see their own craft in the image of ourfighters.

0e glanced at his wife for only a moment then stated the obvious. *The

telepathic 1ranch within / Corp was a significant multiplier to 'ominion forcecapability. -ithout them, without me, /’m not sure they could have won all those

battles. /t’s why they were willing to spend the billions of credits on the '$2experiments at 9yan our. 2nd it’s why telepaths were afforded special privileges,

permitted to openly voice dissention without reprisal. -e made a chamber full of

little frightened mon#eys become rulers over all the reachable planets in this

sector.!he didn’t tal#, (ust stared at the man she loved.0e paused, replayed the images, side by side with those unfolding outside

their ship. */t’s always the same. /n a massive stellar clash li#e this, the fight

spreads to multiple fronts, the give and ta#e, ebb and flow of the battle linechanges moment to moment. 0e closed his eyes for a second and drew in a long

deep breath. *Telepaths li#e you and me, we can even feel the adrenalinecoursing in every trooper when they fry one of the enemy" or the instant they

reali4e it’s their turn to go out in flames.

They stood together, not spea#ing, only watching the destruction unfold"the disintegrated metal, the ripped flesh. *rom afar, there’s a macabre beauty to

it all, as if some deity were pulling strings of the ants fighting at his feet,choosing who dies today and who lives to #ill again tomorrow. 2lmost li#e a damn

video game. -hen you go in after it’s all over, sweep for debris, things of intelvalue, and survivors you never find" 0is body shivered for an instant, *the body

parts, iced globs of blood, gabbing mouths loc#ed fro4en in a scream, it’s truly a

gruesome experience, even for the veterans. !omething strea#ed by the starboard engine, li#e a stellar fighter in chase.

2 bright blue light flashed beyond the coc#pit. 2n instant later, !)2T.2 neon green colored body splattered across the windshield. /n the last

moment of its life, the creature ga4ed inside the ship with its large red eyeballs,

then it crystalli4ed in the near absolute 4ero temperature of space and floatedaway.

*)ogan+

Two

)i#e toy soldiers, the men beneath the orbiting command ship set thebroadcast emitter in the main crater.

They ha!e no idea the part they play in this absurd mission.

*



Evans pushed the scan control on the screen away from his troopers andcentered it three hundred yards below their position. 0e 4oomed in on the image

of a clown’s face etched into the largest asteroid in the ;ramer belt outside the

reighter colony of the -olf <=> star system."hen do we stop this madness# $ow much further before we implode from

within# The (unior officer waited patiently by 8eneral Evans’ side as he observed

the final installation. -ithout turning, Evans finally recogni4ed the presence of hissubordinate. *-hat is it, 7a(or

*The 2lpha Three team (ust signaled the last transmitter is ready. They’re

re&uesting permission to initiate power. %nce switched on, the entire networ# oftwenty nodes will become operational.

Evans ignored the progress report. *Ever wonder when too much is toomuch.

*Excuse me, 8eneral

Evans attempted to straighten his shoulders. *'on’t you thin# there’s a

point where morality overcomes loyalty to command */’m sorry !ir, but / don’t understand. The 8eneral issued a morose expression, a sad recognition of his own

uni&ue &uandary.

%one of them ha!e any idea what we&re really doing. $ow could they# 'nlythe few cleared at le!el one know what I know.

Evans realigned his ga4e at the screen pro(ected over the viewing portal. *)oo# at him.

*-ho

*The clown, the face in the asteroid below, he’s grinning at us. The sadisticbastard is laughing ?cause he #nows the truth.

*8eneral, that’s (ust an optical illusion, a pattern left by micro meteorsbombarding the surface.

Evans cleared his throat. *Tell them they’re authori4ed to bring the systemon line.

*!ir, are you all right

*5ou’re dismissed, 7a(or. The young officer saluted and left the troubled 8eneral by himself. 0e no

longer observed his men below but rather the distant leiades star cluster. 0ecollapsed his hands together, interweaved his fingers and spo#e to no one in

proximity to his command chair. *orgive us for the path we’ve ta#en, and forgive

me for my part. Tiny bumps raced across his flesh as he waited for a response to his useless

prayer. The solitary man again pleaded for an answer. *)ord, how could they do this to their own, and to your other children so far

away lease tell me, what am / to do

$othing, no voices, no sign. 0e sat alone with the riddle, focused on themiddle star of %rion’s sword, and pondered what was about to ta#e place, the

sins they had ordered him to commit. @ A @

+



The weapons officer slapped the triangular card down on the metal table. *Tingo+ That ma#es eighty credits you owe me.

*/ hate this shitty game. The roo#ie maintenance tech growled.

*That’s ?cause you suc# at it. The weapons officer (ested and turned to theman in the command chair studying the <' images displayed against the

windshield of the Class B stellar craft. *0ow ?bout you, !#ipper. Care to ta#e yourchances in a game of Tingo

The s#ipper detached from the video for a moment and glanced rearwardinto the metallic bowels of the ship. *$o way. 5ou cheat.

The roo#ie duc#ed to pass under the low ceiling and moved into the

navigator’s station. *-ish we had some 'ominion forces out here with us. $otsure these old ships stand a chance against the 2npian fighters. 0eard they’re

real tough. 9umor is they’ve been whac#ing the main fleet pretty bad. 0e waited for a response. *!#ipper, did you hear what / said

*5eah. Concerns me too, but we’ve got no choice. leets spread thin trying

to shield twelve star systems. /f we don’t set up a defensive line behind the

;ramer 1elt, the Colony and all our families won’t stand a chance. The young man (ust out of his teens nodded, but his expression retained

the concern for the people down on the reighter settlement.

The s#ipper tapped him on his shoulder. */t’s all right, !on. -e’ll do fine.

0ell, we’re (ust a farming colony. -hy would they bother us anyway0e returned to the flic#ering figures across the pryaglass" the girl with the

goldey loc# curls, and the old man chasing her down the rows of potato plants.The images were so real, so life li#e, from the wrin#les in his father’s chee#s, to

the dimples in his daughter’s puffy face. Even the rainbow colored ridgeline

forming the bac#drop to his home stood out in brilliant clarity from a hundredmiles below on the planet’s surface. 0e reached out toward the leaf shaped

birthmar# below her right eye, and then touched beneath his own. *!o beautiful, (ust li#e your mother.

The alarm at the weapons station near the rear of the coc#pit screamed. *That’s the fourth false warning. 5ou’ve set the damn radar sensitivity too high

and it #eeps reflecting off the bac#ground clutter. The s#ipper instructed his

subordinates, without turning away from his daughter’s image. *Can’t be thatmany bogies, not without some advanced indication from the lead s&uadron. 8o

tune it6The command ship at the rear of the reighter 'efense orce (er#ed

violently. 2 barrage of explosive flashes pierced into the ship from every portal.

*The bastards came in without any signature+ The roo#ie yelled. The s#ipper switched off the pro(ector and scanned for the rest of the

vessels in the small band of colony piloted ships. %nly fields of expanding debrislittered the space outside the viewing port where a ma#eshift fleet had stood

guard an instant earlier above the settlement.

The inexperienced weapons officer panic#ed. *2ll our ships, they’re gone.Every one of them. -hat do we do Captain, what do we do The Colony,

shouldn’t we warn them

5



*/t’s6too6late. )i#e a statue cemented in place, the s#ipper remainedfro4en, every muscle immobili4ed. /t was as if all his nerves had been ripped

apart by the carnage beyond the canopy. The <' pro(ection of his family had

been replaced by the ultimate reality" the meaning behind the spectacle outsidehis command ship. $o explanation was necessary for the impending catastrophe

to all he held dear in his fragile farmer’s life on the third planet circling the -olfstar system. Even when the nearest triad of 2npian ships re3vectored toward the

only remaining survivors of the attac#, his body refused to obey. *!#ipper, we have to warn the colony. Captain, please. 1ut it was useless.

The young man too# the intercom from the s#ipper’s hand. *Colony control, this

is 'elta %ne Command. 5ou must6 *Command, this is Colony Control. Come bac# 'elta %ne. $o response,

nothing. There were no words of warning. $o smells from the fried corpsesdrifting in space. $o indication of the slaughter above the planet. %nly

bac#ground static generated by the residual ion particles from three do4en

mangled pulse engines entering the upper atmosphere of the reighter

settlement.

The puffy3faced girl with the golden hair scuffed the tips of her shoes in the

red soil until the flash above redirected her interest. *apa, loo#. 'addy sent

firewor#s. The old man pushed up from between the rows of flowering potato plants

and watched the debris from his son’s ship strea# fire trails through the ambercolored s#y. /n the distance, beyond the red pea#s of !arra 7ountain, a siren

bellowed. 2 blue flash accompanied the pulsing sound, then the distant warning

turned silent. 2dditional bursts of blue light spec#led the hori4on.0e struggled to his feet, grabbed his grand daughter and raced toward the

entrance to the steel shelter, but it was too late. 2 dust cloud formed (ust abovethe landscape and where there had been two humans, only a blac# circle of

scorched dirt remained.

Three

The neon colored suc#erfish nibbled at )ogan 9iggs’ right toe submerged in

the salty water at the base of the lagoon, but they were harmless. )i#e all the

flora and beasties on Trexia, fourth planet of the 2ltair star system" there wereno creatures dangerous to humans, except in the distant depths of the singular

ocean enveloping *Cali’s /sland.0e smiled at the sound of his own words cast la4ily into the warm moist air.

)ogan’s bass voice mixed with the low rumble of the waterfall. /ts avocado

shaded water cascaded down the ridge, across the tetra colored stones, andtumbled slowly over the rim into the pool below. Crystal slivers stirred from the

streambed above launched out of the spray. !unlight pierced the wafer thin gemson their descent from the falls and formed prism rainbows spinning li#e miniature

helicopters.

,



The mist embraced his nude form while he studied the shadow beneath thesurface searching for shellfish at the center of the lagoon. The blue globes of a

female rump bro#e above the pool and undulated twice li#e a streamlined

porpoise, as two delicate feet #ic#ed several times then followed the femininesilhouette beneath the ripples.

)ogan inhaled the vanilla li#e scent from the purple blossoms of the arelliabush at the edge of the water while he surveyed the hand painted sign speared

into the emerald toned sand to the right of the small waterfall. The blac# letters,(ali&s Island painted on an arms length of driftwood emphasi4ed the only man

made intrusion laying claim to their tiny haven.

The sun’s energy penetrated the shallow water in the lagoon beneath thechalet. 0eat radiating bac# from the crystals covering the bottom, along with a

few steam vents, created a natural sauna.)ogan pressed his hair into the mound of sand fashioned as a pillow. The

D=3degree water comfortably toasted his butt while the midday binary stars

neutrali4ed the chill from the mist. 2gain he sensed nipping at his toes, but this

time it was different, more inviting, stimulating to his senses. 2n enticing andsultry feminine voice bec#oned, *8od, you’re handsome. / (ust can’t get enoughof this body.

2s Cali pushed above the surface of the water, he admired the life si4ed

lint moth tattooed below her breast" the cream toned wings drawn tight bygolden chains to symboli4e egan bondage. !he gently raised his right foot and

the nerves in his leg shot icicles up his bac# while Cali tasted his an#le. -hen shemoved her tongue along his inner thigh and drew heart shapes around his groin

with her nailless fingers, the ice turned to fire and )ogan’s body began to respond

outwardly. !he traced and touched with that marvelous tongue as if it were adelicate instrument, searching, probing for something until finally she found her

target. )ogan twitched and moaned in response to the guttural purring deepwithin her throat.

0e recogni4ed the change in her odor. )i#e all egan women, Cali’shormones were on continual alert, secreting a spicy aroma blended between

orchids and a strong burgundy wine. 1ut once she became aroused, the smell

escalated, turned more predatory. 0er movement, the sounds resonating fromher mouth" her enticing behavior evolved from the mild seductive growls and

groans of a playful #itten to a starving huntress, hungry for engagement with amale.

2 (arring intrusion shattered their mental connection. /n unison the two

telepaths felt the electro3magnetic barrier of the stellar ship switch off. Theyredirected their attention one hundred yards down the beach and exchanged a

single word.Intruder.

)ogan leaped to his feet li#e a Tangerian swamp leopard prepared to defend

his territory from an invader. $erve impulses fired into the priming nodulesbeneath his flesh, igniting the hyperactive bio chemical electrical generators. The

charge surged within his s#in forming a cyan colored halo in the thermalboundary layer enveloping )ogan’s body.



0e motioned Cali to position behind his silhouette. *They came in stealthmode. That’s why the alarms didn’t activate.

0e sensed her approach and &uic#ly shut off his charging circuits an instant

before she made contact with her hands against his barebac#. */ #now. There arefour occupants. The larger one, the leader, she concentrated on the tree trun# of

a man exiting the egasus class / Corps 'art ship, *his thoughts, memories,they’re familiar. / can’t tell from where.

)ogan issued a one3word explanation. *)umina. 0e #new exactly who it was without even seeing his face. $ot because he

was a stronger ; !ix to Cali’s category ive powers, but because of the history

he shared with this mountain of flesh. *!cott axton, you son of a bitch. */sn’t he the one, that’s your case officer from when you were an /ntel

operative / thought you two ended on bad terms. *1ad terms / too# his right eye at the end of the )umina campaign. -ould

have fried his brain too if his second in command hadn’t whac#ed me with his

stunner rod before / could blow out the side of his s#ull.

)ogan sensed Cali eavesdropping (ust outside the chamber to his past andhe slammed the door shut.

%o, )ittle 'ne. I don&t want you to touch that part of my life.

0e felt her second attempt to clandestinely penetrate that door, but simply

denied access to those memories, li#e the only ; !ix who ever wor#ed for /Corps could do, and she bac#ed off.

The two lovers waited as the group of four men in gray uniformsapproached. Cali pressed tighter into his bare flesh and tried to hide her na#ed

form. )ogan sensed her discomfort and shielded her from prying eyes with a

protective stance. Even under these stressed conditions her physical contact,those taut nipples pressed into his s#in, and the smell from their prior encounter,

caused )ogan’s body to react into a visually aroused state.0e ignored the glare of all four males at his predicament and focused on

the large bald man extending his right hand. )ogan refused the greeting and in asour tone, *-hat the hell you want, axton.

The towering leader of the group glanced down at )ogan’s mid section and

grinned. *5our voice may hide it old friend, but your body’s clearly happy to seeme. $ever #new you felt that way, 9iggs. !orry but even for you, / don’t swing

that way.

Final Solution Sci Fi Novel - "How far is too far?"

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