Deeper and Darker (Deep Dark Well Book 3) Read online

  Deeper and Darker

  A Novel of The Deep Dark Well Trilogy

  By

  Doug Dandridge

  I’ve got to get out of here , thought Watcher as he severed the link with the ship’s computer. According to the navigation computer the battleship he was on, as well as the rest of the force, was a little over halfway to its destination. They were in hyper VII, with a pseudospeed of over thirty-five thousand times light. The borders of the New Terran Empire were over three thousand light years from the Supersystem, and the core system of that polity was a thousand light years from that border. It was a fifty-two day trip overall, counting time to accelerate and decelerate back down, one that his own ships could make in a little over thirteen days. And just our bad luck that the bastards had to be so close to us.

  He had been checking out the databases about the Empire, and what he saw was chilling. They had quadrupled the size of their empire in the last hundred years, and it was increasing at a geometric rate. At its present expansion it would double again in the next twenty years, then again ten years later. And most of the developing powers in that space didn’t have a prayer. There were twelve other multi-star system governments in that threatened space, and none of them stood a chance against the Empire.

  It wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t complete dicks, he thought, recalling more of the information he had gleaned from the databanks. The Empire was ruled by a single human male, one who had lived for over five hundred years, and looked as if he had no intention of dying anytime soon. It was a totalitarian regime that brooked no dissension or interference with its plans and policies. Just the kind of government Watcher despised.

  Watcher linked back in with the ship, this time going beyond the safe confines that he had set himself, going straight into the heart of the security programs. He had been here before, for fleeting instants, checking out the sensitivity of the programs to intruders, learning what he could get away with. Now he took some steps beyond those boundaries.

  He had determined that now was the best time to escape, while they were still outside the borders of the Empire, while he only had to escape and avoid these ships. The only problem was, he still didn’t know if that was possible.

  He looked through the security system and noted that all the nearby corridors were empty. There were security personnel on duty in the surveillance room that oversaw this block of cells (and there sure were enough of those on what was supposed to be a warship). The rest of the corridors leading to his planned destination were as empty as could be during the late night cycle of the ship, when the only people up were those who had duty stations to man.

  Watcher’s mind, the most powerful organic data processing instrument in the Galaxy since the disappearance of the almost legendary Ancients, moved with ease through the systems of the ship. For a moment he had the access to make the ship do anything he wanted. That access was only momentary, and would give away the game, but he could do it.

  He set the security systems to indicate that his cell was occupied, and that the door had remained closed, even while it was opening to his front. The sensors at the security station would continue to monitor his calm heartbeat, while the visual pickups would show a lifelike image of himself, pieced together from hundreds of hours of surveillance recordings, sitting on his bed, or sleeping, or any of a thousand other actions.

  Watcher slipped through the door, glancing in both directions, his superior mind filling in every detail with that one look. The cell door closed behind him, and he started moving the direction he wanted, his own location appearing in his optical centers on a schematic of the ship.

  The battleship massed fifteen million tons, and measured well over two kilometers by eight hundred meters. There were six thousand people aboard, spacemen and marines. If he had to fight his way through them all he was dead. But so far it was looking very good that he might be able to sneak through to where he wanted to be. After that, it would be up to his skills at manipulating the computer to get off the ship and away, spoofing their sensors and dropping off their plot.

  The armory he had scoped out was ahead and to the right. Its lock was no more advanced than that of his cell, and the thick door slid in and to the side as he approached. Of course, there was an inner door on a separate circuit, but that was only a microsecond of effort to open it in the same way. Inside the armory was rack after rack of weapons, as well as some various sizes of body armor. No powered armor, which was a bit disappointing, but not really unexpected. Naval powered armor would be stored where the crew could get to it during battle alerts, while the marine version would be kept by their quarters.

  It took a little over a minute to strap on some of the body armor, breast and back plate, shoulder pads, forearm and thigh guards, and a tactical helmet. He strapped on several hand weapons, then chose the most powerful rifle he could find. Again, it was not what he would have preferred, but it was the best he could get at the moment.

  The armory sealed itself up after he left, and he continued on his way, tapping into the security system to see ahead of him, making sure he was not running into any of the crew. There were some tense moments there, as he saw people wandering halls on several occasions, and once an armed patrol, which made him wonder how much this Admiral trusted his own people

  It’s just ahead, he thought, walking down the corridor, his booted feet not making the slightest sound. He gripped the particle beam rifle in his hands, ready for any betraying movement that would warn him of an enemy. The weapon seemed somewhat primitive compared to what he was used to, and he was sure that it was not in the same class as what he had carried off of the station, but hopefully powerful enough to defeat their own armor. The helmet on his head had its com activated, at least the receiving portion of the tactical communications link.

  He pushed a small probe around a corner that was the last before the main corridor that led to the hangar. The probe was a small fiber optic line that was flexible enough to shape to any desired configuration. It was attached to his helmet, and gave him a view of whatever the end was pointed to. Now it was giving him a view of two battle suited Marines standing before the hatch that led into the hangar, particle beam rifles in their hands.

  Now how in the hell do I get past them, he thought, knowing that if he shot the men an alarm would definitely sound. That concern was rendered moot as said alarm went off, a loud klaxon that sounded through the corridor along with red flashing lights.

  “The prisoner has escaped,” came a voice over the tactical com. “Repeat, the being known as Watcher has escaped and is at large on the ship. He is to be considered extremely dangerous.”

  Dedication

  This novel is dedicated to brother, Bob Dandridge, who served this country honorably and at great cost to himself. Thank you for your service, brother, and for being a fan.

  Contact me at [email protected]

  Follow my Blog at http://dougdandridge.com

  Follow me at @BrotherofCats

  Copyright © 2014 Doug Dandridge

  All rights reserved.

  Please respect the hard work of this author. If you found this book for free on a pirate site, please visit Amazon and buy a copy of your own. I feel that I charge a reasonable price for this work.

  For more information on the Exodus Universe, visit http://dougdandridge.net for maps, sketches and other details of this work.

  Acknowledgements: I would like to thank all of my fans, especially those who sent emails or commented on blogs about how much they enjoyed the first four books of this series. Your kind words gave me the impetus to continue through the not so kind words left in some reviews.

&
nbsp; Books by Doug Dandridge

  Doug Dandridge’s Author Page at Amazon

  Science Fiction

  The Exodus Series

  Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1

  Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2

  Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3: The Rising Storm.

  Exodus: Empires at War: Book 4: the Long Fall.

  Exodus: Empires at War: Book 5: Ranger

  Exodus: Empires at War: Book 6: The Day of Battle

  The Deep Dark Well Series

  The Deep Dark Well

  To Well and Back

  Deeper and Darker

  Others

  The Shadows of the Multiverse

  Diamonds in the Sand

  The Scorpion

  Afterlife

  We Are Death, Come for You

  Fantasy

  The Refuge Series

  Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1

  Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2

  Refuge: Book 3: The Legions

  Doppelganger: A Novel of Refuge

  Others

  The Hunger

  Daemon

  Aura

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  Prologue

  “He still refuses to give us the information,” said the Senior Chief who was the head of interrogation on the case.

  “Shit,” growled Admiral Carlos Jackson of the New Galactic Empire, which was Galactic in name only. “We need that access.” Maybe not right now, he thought, staring at a holo screen that showed his home world of Kallis, cities sparkling on the night side. In the background was the gas giant Odin, the gravitational center, which four inhabited moons orbited. We’re the most powerful force in the Galaxy, at least as far as we know. Nothing can stand before our march to Empire. Until we butt heads with that station.

  “You’ve tried everything?” he said, looking up at the Chief.

  “Everything we can think of,” said the interrogator. “Drugs, pain, psychoprobe, and nothing seems to work on him. His brain is just too advanced for our methods.”

  “And we could probably come up with something that would work if we had access to his tech,” said the Admiral, clenching his fists. “But to get that tech we need to break him.”

  “We could always go back and retrieve his woman,” said the Chief, his tone indicating that he thought they should have done that in the first place. “We could break her, or use her to break him, since he seemed to care so much for her.”

  “You’re right,” said the Admiral, looking back at the home world he had not seen in some time. “We should have snagged her from the start. Too late now. She’s probably back on that station, where we can’t touch her. Or the Nation of Humanity people have already killed her. Either way, Watcher is the only one we have at hand that can get us on that station.”

  “Maybe when we reach home base they can come up with something,” said the Chief, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m good, but they have people a lot better than me.”

  “Perhaps,” said the Admiral, looking back at the man. “But you’re all we have now, so keep at it. Maybe we’ll get lucky and stumble upon the thing that finally breaks him.”

  “Stranger things have happened,” said the Chief, throwing a salute to his superior and turning away.

  “Stranger things have happened,” said the Admiral under his breath as the door slid shut behind the NCO. We are actually returning from a point of legend with the Monster who destroyed civilization on-board. If there’s anything stranger than that I really don’t want to know.

  But the prize was still beyond them, the Donut, the massive station of wonders that would give them an insurmountable advantage over any other power in the Galaxy. If only we had access to the other stations, he thought, thinking back through his history of the three stations built around black holes, used to generate the wormhole gates that spanned the Galaxy, and according to legend even beyond the Milky Way. But the original was destroyed in some war or another before the Galaxy was united under one government, and the location of the third was lost in the fall of civilization. Someday someone would find it, but right now they only knew of one station. And the New Galactic Empire meant to make it theirs.

  Chapter One

  Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme liberty.

  Plato

  Pandora Latham looked over the large room that had once served as a gathering place for humans and aliens in ages past. It again was a place where people had met, this time to kill each other. Pandi forced herself to not vomit as she looked over the sprawled bodies of the Marines of the Nation of Humanity. The stench of released bladders and bowels permeated the room. The armored battle suits worn by the Marines would normally have contained the odor, but particle beams had a way of tearing large holes in those suits, and the smell was in the air.

  Not all the casualties had been on the Nation’s side. There were a couple of bodies of Suryan Spacers and Marines in the room, being tended to by their mates, who were removing their remains from battle armor so they could be interned with the rites of the Polytheistic people. But there were not many. Twelve Suryans had died taking this section of the station away from almost two thousand Nation of Humanity warriors, a result of the disparity of technology between the invader’s tech and that of the station which equipped Pandi’s forces.

  Maintenance robots were starting the job of cleanup, carting the bodies and equipment of the enemy away for disposal. Pandora looked at them with a grimace, wondering if she should accord them some kind of ceremony. She shook her head, dismissing the idea. There were too many of them, and the sooner the stink was cleaned up the better.

  “They fought like the fanatics they are,” said a dusky faced young woman in battle armor. “You see why we have never been able to negotiate with them, because why would someone try to treat with you who knows God is on their side.”

  “He didn’t seem to do a bang up job today,” said Pandora, thinking back over the more than twelve hours of combat it had taken to secure the station. “Not sure I would want that kind of God with me.”

  “You don’t believe, do you?” asked Lt. Commander Mandrake of the Kingdom of Surya Navy.

  “Don’t see much reason to,” said the beautiful redhead, still young of face and body, though the worry lines were starting to accumulate. “My daddy was a man of God, when he wasn’t busy beating me, or trying to get in my pants. And I’ve seen nothing since I’ve come to this age to change my mind.” Pandi shook her head, then looked over at the frowning woman. “Don’t mean to mock your beliefs, Dasha. It’s up to everyone to find their own God, or Gods, or lack of such. And not mine to make up someone else’s mind for them.”

  “Would that these we killed here today thought that way,” said the Commander, shaking her head. “Then there might not have had to be such bloodshed.”

  “Shoulda, coulda, woulda,” said Pandi with a scowl. “Great words after the shit has hit it. But now we need to prepare for the next part of this show.”

  “And we will, Pandora Latham,” said the small man in battle armor walking up to the two women.

  Pandi smiled as she looked at the small dynamo who was the commander of the Suryans in this sector of space. Admiral Nagara Krishnamurta was not imposing physically, but he had a keen mind, and a sense of honor as large as the Donut.

  “I am honored that you would leave me in charge of this station,” continued the Admiral with a smile. “I will do my best that we not betray your trust.”

  “Now understand, Admiral,” said the woman from the past. “It’s not your government that I trust. It’s you, and you alone. I’m not saying that they aren’t trustworthy,” she said quickly when he opened his mouth to protest. “I’m sure they are fine folks. But I don’t know them. I know you. And I also know one thing about your people. Compared to these other assholes we’ve met, t
he Suryans seem to be the least likely to want to establish some kind of Empire. And the least likely to go out of their way to harm others.”

  “So, when do we leave?” asked Dasha Mandrake, cutting through the uncomfortable silence that followed Pandora’s pronouncement.

  “I figure about two weeks,” said Pandi, doing the math quickly in her head. “That will give us time to get ourselves and the ships ready, and get more of your people up here to man the station, and provide Marines.”

  “I thought the ships were always ready,” said the Admiral, following Pandora as she walked toward the wall mounted viewer that was displaying the hanger where the three vessels they were going to take were waiting.

  “They are always ready,” said Pandi, looking at the lean shapes of the one million ton destroyers. “We’re the ones who need to get ready, with upgraded implants and training. Won’t do much good to go running off half cocked and just get captured.”

  “And my people will be here in eight days?” asked the Admiral, disbelief in his voice. Pandi nodded and the Admiral smiled. “It takes us a year to go from home to here and back. And your ships can do it in six days. Amazing.”

  “You’ll have to get used to it,” said Pandora with a smile. “You are going to be our navy, you and your people, and it won’t do to give you substandard stuff when the Galaxy is still alive with despots and dictators. And when we get the wormhole network back up and running we’ll even take those eight days off the transit.”

  “They look too small to challenge those monsters the New Galactic Empire brought here,” said Mandrake, sticking her chin at the spaceships on the viewer.

  “An elephant is a lot bigger than a fifty caliber machine gun,” said Pandi. “But that machine gun can truly chew an elephant’s ass off.” The two Suryans looked blankly at her and Pandi chuckled. “Guess you had to have been there. Or been born in that time. Now I’m going to leave you for a little while so I can get about twenty four in a regeneration tank.”