Hello everyone, this is Dave the Miracle Maker up here in the high desert again. Everything is going great for me. We survived the hurricane with minimal flooding. We just received a lot of rain up here. My truck is broken down right now, but that just gives me an excuse to ride my Harley. I have another book recommendation for you. It is titled The Lost Frontier Handbook. The Lost Frontier Handbook with teach you how to survive any crises by using the lost skills of our ancestors. With the things that are happening these days, people need to be prepared to survive on their own without government assistance. Also with the high inflation including the rising price of gas, food, and other necessities, some people are having a rough time. Now is the time to start developing other streams of income. Whether it is finding ways to make money online or starting a business, every little bit extra helps. It is also a good time to start investing in cryptocurrency. All though I am no financial advisor and everyone should do their own research before investing, I think that now is a good time to invest. Bitcoin, which is the most popular form of cryptocurrency, is selling at $29, 988.64 per Bitcoin right now. By the time you read this that might have changed a bit. Every four years, Bitcoin halves the amount of Bitcoin that is available to the miners and when this happens it causes a bull run in cryptocurrency. In twenty twenty four Bitcoin will halve again. Some experts are predicting that the price of Bitcoin will reach, $180,000. When Bitcoin goes up, the rest of the cryptocurrencies go up as well, so I believe that now is the time to invest. Whether or not you choose cryptocurrency or some other way to increase your income streams, you need to believe in yourself so that you can manifest your best life. Until next time, be the best you that you can be. Peace out.

Now for your reading pleasure check out chapter twenty-three of the Battle For Europa. The Battle For Europa is the first book in my science fiction series, the Space Corps Chronicles.

Chapter 23

Alonzo Garcia stood in his dress blues with his back ramrod straight. The officers’ training course was long and brutal. Alonzo persevered and now, he stepped out of his seat and made his way to the stage. A sense of pride shot through him and a big grin crossed his face. Stepping up onto the stage, he shook hands with Commander Dawson. He received his diploma, stepped up to Captain Chambers, and fired off a salute. Chambers returned the salute.

“Congratulations Mr. Garcia. It’s a pleasure having you aboard.” Chambers extended his hand and they shook. A big grin spread across Alonzo’s face.

“Thank you, sir. It is a pleasure serving under you.” Alonzo stepped back.

Chambers smiled. “Mr. Garcia, I know you’ll do us proud.”

“I’ll do my best, sir.” Alonzo took his seat. He watched Louis step up to the platform. When Louis stepped up to Captain Chambers, he noticed them laughing. When Louis took his seat, Alonzo leaned over and whispered, “What was that all about?”

Louis shrugged. “The old boy wanted to rib me about the time when the gravity generator went out and I broke my damned leg. The captain is a good bloke. I wouldn’t mind sitting down and having a drink with him sometime.”

Alonzo nodded. “We can do that now that we’re officers. We can drink at the officers’ pub, bro.”

“Right, I’ll buy the first round when we do.”

After the graduation ceremony, the Fleet Marines held a party for the new graduates. Alonzo and Louis entered the mess hall. They surveyed the room and headed to the food and beverage line for a beer. Alonzo stopped halfway across the mess hall. “Hey, bro. You bring the brews and I’ll go find us a table. Bring me a piece of that cake too.” The smell of tobacco smoke and freshly cooked food filled the mess hall. The buzz of conversation filled the room.

“You got it, mate. I’m in the mood to do some celebrating. Now that we’re done with that bloody class, we will have a wee bit more free time.”

Alonzo found a table next to the left bulkhead near a viewscreen. Louis came back with two beers and a piece of cake for each of them. “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about, bro.” Alonzo dived into the cake. Louis took a swig from his beer while Alonzo took a drink of his. He glanced at the viewscreen on the right bulkhead looking at Uranus in all her glory. His eyes widened and his bottom jaw dropped.

“She’s a sight. Isn’t she mate?” Louis said.

Alonzo nodded. “Yeah. We should enter orbit in two or three days. I hear we’re dropping off a science team. They’ll probably use the Fleet Marines to help them construct the base.”

Louis shrugged. “Could you imagine it, mate? To be stuck out here so far away from home for at least a year or more. It would drive me bonkers.”

“These science guys love that shit, bro. They discover some microbe embedded in the ice and it makes their dick hard.” They finished their cake and drank another beer.

“What do you say we head down to the officers’ pub?” Louis said.

Alonzo stood to his feet. “Let’s go.” Five minutes later, they strolled into the pub as if they owned the place and took seats at the bar. The smell of beer and cigarette smoke filled the room. Captain Chambers and First Officer Bannister entered the pub. Chambers noticed them sitting at the bar, so he invited them over to their table. They sat drinking and talking for the next two hours. Alonzo and Louis bid the captain and first officer farewell and headed down to the Fleet Marine berthing deck. They packed their gear, and rode the turbo lift, up to officers’ country. Junior officers shared small cabins that accommodated four men each. They found a cabin with two empty bunks and settled in for the night.

***

Three standard earth days later, the deep space fleet entered orbit around Uranus. The Fleet Marine brass assigned Louis and Alonzo each a platoon of marines. They constructed housing modules for the new science outpost on Titania. The EVA work was hard, but they were eager to prove themselves. While on Titania, Alonzo saw a shuttle land on the other side of the compound. He watched two men in EVA suits lumber down the exit ramp, and step up to one of the marines. The three men talked for a while before the two men boarded the shuttle and it took off heading back to the ship. Alonzo lumbered over to talk with the top sergeant. He was assisting a squad in erecting a living module.

“Who was on that shuttle Top?” Alonzo asked.

The Irish brogue of the top sergeant came through the speakers in the helmet of Alonzo’s EVA suit. “That was our dear captain and first officer, lad. We’re lucky to have such fine officers as them.”

Alonzo nodded. “I hope that someday I could be half as good.”

“Don’t fret Lad. You’re still a wee bit wet behind the ears, but you got the makings.” Sunlight stabbed across the surface of Titania. Alonzo looked out to space in the direction of Earth. A sense of unease shot through him making him feel insignificant and alone.

***

When David Gallagher boarded the light space cruiser with Captain O’Brian and his crew, O’Brien gave him the run of the ship. He said that if David promised not to cause trouble, he would make the journey to Europa as pleasant as possible. When they left Mars, several PPF vessels pursued them to the edge of the asteroid belt. Eventually, they gave up the chase. For the first three weeks in space, David cooperated. After waking one morning at zero six hundred hours ship time, David saw his chance and took it. In the galley, he saw a handheld laser in the holster of a man in the serving line. He grabbed it. Before the weapon cleared leather, five Special Forces team members pounced on him. They took him to the deck in a dog pile and restrained him with handcuffs. A sharp pain shot up his arm when they put on the handcuffs.

“Now that was stupid. Did you think we weren’t watching you?”

David shrugged, giving the man a surly grin. “I saw my chance and I took it.”

They escorted him to a small cabin, locked him in for the next two weeks, and kept him under guard. When they brought him food, three men stood guard with their guns drawn while one of them handed him his plate. At the end of two weeks, Captain O’Brian entered the small cabin to have a chat. David lay back on the bed leaning up against a bulkhead with a churlish look on his face. O’Brien sat down in a chair facing him.

“Do you think that if I allow you to have a bit more freedom you could restrain yourself? Can you try not to cause any more trouble? What did you think? That you could take on the whole crew and return to Mars?”

“It was worth a try, but yeah. I give you my word as a Fleet Marine that I won’t make another attempt at getting away until we reach Europa.”

“Well, that’s something anyway.”

David stretched. “I don’t know why you people took me in the first place.”

“Your brother wants to see you. The man cares for you.”

A scowl crossed David’s face. “My brother is a worthless piece of shit. He’s dead to me.”

Anger flashed across O’Brian’s face and he stood to his feet. “Your brother is an honorable man. He’s a visionary. People follow him because they want to, not because he welds authority. He believes in freedom and cares about people. He is a good friend and it makes me angry to hear you speak of him in that way. If you say something like that again about him I’ll knock you on your scrawny little ass.”

David let out a nervous laugh and held up his hands, palms out. “I see he’s got you people fooled. Why did he send you people to get me?”

O’Brien paused at the door. “He wants you to join us. We can always use good combat-trained marines. You’re his brother. He cares about you.”

David shook his head. “He’s wasting your time. I’ll never join your so-called rebellion. Your New Republic is a sham. It’s a bunch of thugs trying to get over on the system. My brother has always been a troublemaker and he always will be. I promised you that until we get to Europa, I won’t try anything. When we do get there, I want you to treat me as a prisoner of war. As such, I have to try to escape.”

“So be it. I’ll leave the door unlocked. The ship’s on autopilot. My crew is in the lounge enjoying a cold beer. Come and join us if you want.” O’Brien stood to leave. David couldn’t help but wonder what hold Shawn had over these people. He joined O’Brian’s crew a few minutes later for a cold beer and true to his word; David made no further attempts to escape. During the flight, his mood was surly most of the time, but part of him enjoyed the company of Captain O’Brian and his crew.

When they exited the asteroid belt and approached Jupiter. O’Brian increased speed to full thrust. Several federal battle cruisers blockading Jupiter turned to engage them. Laser flashes ached across their bow. Ten light cruisers shot out from behind an asteroid, attacking the federal ships. David watched the engagement on a VID screen in the lounge. O’Brien increased the downward angle descending toward Europa. While they swept over the icy moon, David saw an ongoing battle on the rugged surface. Laser fire lit up the night. Main battle tanks hammered what looked like a federal base to the south of the colony. Large plumes of ice shot up into the air every time the tank fired its main gun.

When they touched down, O’Brian handed David an EVA suit. He suited up along with O’Brian and his Special Forces team. They lumbered down the exit ramp stepping onto the concrete landing pad. A security team met them and escorted David to the stockade; they set him up in temporary quarters and kept him under guard. When Shawn showed up to speak with him David’s face reddened and his hands balled into fists at his sides. He seethed with anger and contempt, but when David saw the hurt look in Shawn’s eyes, it caused a lump to form in his throat.

After they moved him in with the rest of the detainees, David found time to read the documents that Shawn gave to him. Mixed emotions shot through him. How could they trust people with such freedom? Shawn showed up the next day with a chessboard and David agreed to play a game. In the weeks and months that followed, their daily chess game became a ritual and David’s anger began to subside. He began to see what the others saw in his brother and he began to understand why they followed him. The old bond of friendship they had when they were young reformed. David tried to keep their conversations away from politics. He still didn’t believe in Shawn’s politics but he was starting to understand why his brother did the things that he did.

One morning David sat at a table playing chess with another detainee. Alarms sounded blaring throughout the facility and the stockade guards rushed in. “On your feet!” one of them yelled.

“What’s the problem?” David asked, standing to his feet.

“We’re under attack! We have to move all the detainees to a safer location!”

David grinned and a cheer went up from the detainees. “Good. Now you people will get what you deserve.”

“Shut up! Form up in columns of two!” the guard yelled. They formed up into parallel lines while more guards entered the stockade. They escorted them through the security complex and out to the main corridor. Armed soldiers ran down the hallways heading to the turbo lifts. The guards kept their M-23 Blasters trained on the detainees and escorted them to the nearest turbo lift. They rode the lift into the bowels of Europa. When David stepped out of the lift and onto a metal platform, he stopped and his eyes widened.

“Whoa. Does the federal science agency know about this? They’ve always suspected that Europa has an underground ocean surrounding its core. They’ve never been able to prove it.”

One of the guards standing nearby shook his head. “Nope. It’s our little secret. Consolidated brass never ventured down this far in the mines. The miners kept this little gym to themselves. We’ve even seen evidence of aquatic life. Now get aboard that first submersible.”

David paused, feeling a slight chill in the air, and looked out at the water. “How did you manage to build these submarines? I mean right under the nose of consolidated bosses and security?”

The guard laughed. “It helps when you have friends in supply. Sometimes, they tend to order a little too much material. Get on that sub. We don’t have much time.”

The detainees boarded the submarines. David found a seat near a porthole and once the last detainee boarded the sub, the guards sealed the hatch. David looked out the porthole on his right and the submarine descended into the abyss.

***

Louis and Alonzo sauntered down the main corridor of the Port Royal in their dress blues. They stepped into a turbo lift and rode it down to the shuttle bay. “This is going to be the biggest bash we’ve even been to, mate.”

Alonzo grinned. “I’d say. Every officer in the fleet will be there. It ain’t every day that a captain of a battlecruiser gets married. Especially while the fleet is at space.”

“I’ve never heard of it happening before, but it going to be a grand party. Captain Chambers is well-liked.”

Alonzo nodded. “That was some bachelor party last night, bro.”

“I’ll say, mate.” The doors to the turbo lift opened, they entered the reception area and waited for the next shuttle. Five minutes later, they crossed the shuttle bay, boarded a shuttle, and waited while the shuttle filled up with passengers. Three minutes later the shuttle shot down the launch tube. The Gee forces slammed them back into their seats and they shot out to space. Alonzo glanced out the porthole in the bulkhead to his right. His eyes widened taking in the view of Neptune in all her glory.

“She looks majestic, doesn’t she, mate?”

“That she does bro.”

The shuttle touched down on the CEU-Saratoga a few minutes later. The passengers disembarked heading to the chapel. Captain Chambers stood in his dress blues on ocean blue carpeting at the front of the chapel. He stood below an oak pulpit setting on a raised platform. First Officer Bannister stood next to Chambers serving as his best man. The wedding march blared out of overhead speakers. Three bridesmaids made their procession to the front of the church. Everyone rose to their feet as Here Comes the Bride played over the speakers. Nicole Allison, escorted by Admiral Larsen, made her way to the front of the chapel. She looked beautiful in her long off-white wedding dress. Admiral Ivanov stepped off the platform to start the proceedings.

After the wedding, they held a reception in the flagship’s main dining hall. Alonzo and Louis enjoyed themselves, drinking their fill and dancing with any available females. They caught the last shuttle back to the Port Royal. Twelve hours later, they stepped foot on Triton. They supervised the construction of several science labs. Louis stepped up next to Alonzo. They stood watching a squad erect the walls of a prefabricated science lab.

“Mate, once we leave Neptune and fly past that little ice ball, known as Pluto, we’ll be in the great unknown. We’ll be the first men to ever leave the solar system.”

“What do you think we’ll find out there, bro?”

Louis adjusted the temperature settings on his EVA suit. “I don’t know mate. But I’m looking forward to seeing it, whatever it is.” Ten hours later, the fleet broke orbit with Neptune heading to the outer reaches of the solar system.

***