Dominion 5: The Innovator
a book by Jene Beal
Dominion is gathering for an attempt to destroy the colonies, and grab ultimate power over the galaxy, but the Colonel knows that they have enemies who must be dealt with first. Jethro Abel’s team is at the top of his list. Jethro and his men are challenged to complete the most difficult assignments. The famed assassin, the Sterilizer, finally finds the perfect way to get close to Jethro. However, someone else might make the kill. Jethro and his men are sent on a mission that even Jethro believes is impossible.
The Innovator is the 5th full length novel in the Dominion series. The Innovator is a fast paced futuristic Science Fiction / Action Thriller.
(Part of the First Chapter)
1 Call to arms
Jethro woke when he thought he heard a sound. He quickly grabbed his rifle and got up to check the empty cabin. He sighed and went back to his cot. He kept hold of his rifle and settled again.
“I wonder what the colonel is up to now. I wonder how long it’s going to take me to find him,” he whispered and closed his eyes again. “No doubt he will have men coming to find me very soon.”
Meanwhile the colonel was still awake. “We’ve got to catch up to that freighter. I can’t believe how lucky he was to be able to hook that planet in a freighter. I’ve never seen anyone do that before. No doubt he’s dead by now. We just need to get to that ship before it flies into a planet and we lose everything.” He sighed heavily.
The colonel studied Guent’s message again. It had been several hours since he had read it the first time. The news was still too incredible to believe.
“Is it a new ship?” He shook his head yet once more. “Impossible. We’re the only ones who can build new ships without anyone else knowing. The colonies are too well organized, too well monitored, and too corrupt to do anything that we don’t know about,” the colonel smacked his hands together. “They couldn’t build a sandwich without us knowing.”
He reviewed the video Guent had sent. Hours past while he viewed it yet a third time. The colonel pushed his fingers through his short hair once more.
“How did they do it? It is impossible, but Guent is right. They have a ship that we’ve never seen before. No man can fly that fast and live. No existing ship could do that to the Obsidian. The Obsidian was a battleship, not some over-sized shuttle. Whatever that phantom ship is, it must be much more sophisticated than anything we have. How is this possible?” He asked himself for the umpteenth time.
He restarted the video once more. “This creates a whole new dimension for the future. I’m ruined. I’ve lost the weapon. The engineer was lost with the Obsidian. Without the weapon, I’ve got to find something else that will make the difference, or I’m dead. I’ve got to have this ship. The question is, who’s got it and where do they have it? If I can find it, I need to find out who can pilot it. I’m certain that I don’t have anyone among my men who could do that. I’ve got to find this pilot and recruit him. Or I need to capture him and keep him long enough that he can train my men. I can kill him then.”
He sighed once more. “What if I can’t find him or the ship? What do I do then?” He started the video one more time. “Worse, what if I find the ship and the pilot, only to have him fly that thing against us? Guent is good, but he could never be this good. How do we defend against it? I don’t care how sophisticated the ship is, it’s nothing without a pilot.” He sighed.
“Yes, the pilot is the key. He would have to get special training. They couldn’t do that kind of training in any of their usual places. It would have to be someplace so remote and so insignificant that no one would ever notice. It’s probably one of those agricultural planets on the other side of the galaxy. It would probably take years to travel there, and that’s only if the place could even be found. It would take years to train the pilot too. With a ship like the one that attacked the Obsidian, they could travel back and forth in just a few hours. They could hide easily. Worse, by the time we could travel there, they could build hundreds or even thousands more to send against us.”
The colonel stopped the video. He put the disk in and brought up the final map prepared by the Kahli for overthrowing the colonies. He glimpsed a couple of key planets.
“Things aren’t working the way they were supposed to,” he whispered. “They never will. I can see that now. Besides the obvious, the general has holes in his security. He’s weighing us down with his useless entourage of misfits and time wasting traitors. No, Guent is right. It’s time to get the Sogameen boys busy. The general is watching me too closely now. I’m going to have to trust Guent with this one. We’ve got to fill those ships with men I can trust to be loyal to me, not Grainger. I’m going to have to be more generous to the men Guent will find, at least for now.”
The colonel sighed heavily. “That turns me into a simple decoy.” He shook his head. “The others think that Grainger uses me for all the dirty work. When things bog down because of him, they might be thinking that they have to liquidate me to undo the clog.” He thought about the situation for several moments. “I suppose that if it means success for my plan, I can be Grainger’s decoy for now. I don’t have to become a target for him. I can stay ahead of the plan, doing the work, while anticipating Grainger’s moves against me. I can still work my own plan.” He smiled. “Yes, I can still be very effective. I can make it appear that what I’m doing advancing their agenda. I might have to get some insurance. Grainger will realize that I’m not working his agenda.” the colonel stopped to think a moment. “I think he has the same thing in mind as I do. Nevertheless, his organization is falling apart. If I can show Akit that I am keeping them on track, and if I can show that Grainger is constantly slowing us down, he’ll soon realize that Grainger is irrelevant.”
The colonel smiled as he thought about that. It would be easy for him to add a few more of his own people to the general’s staff. They could help him convince Akit and everyone else that Grainger is not all that necessary.
“I still have a pretty good organization. I need to start expanding it. Guent can help me. Guent has been right all along. It’s time to recruit from the general’s foundation. They must already see that the general is weak. They will be easy to sway.”
The colonel keyed a message to Guent.
Guent, You were right. It looks like a new ship. We’re going to need more ships to defend against it. I will make certain that we get the ships. I need you to get the crews. Your idea for the general to supply crews, while we supply the leadership is the way we will do it from now on. There are two lush planets near Magoomba. We will offer leaders of the crews you recruit, a 5 kilometer square piece of property for each. We will also supply them with free travel and an equal split of spoils taken from the inhabitants. Get me enough men to make officers for 2,000 ships. We will need them in 24 months. I believe that our plan is now 2 years away from being possible. The general is slowing us down. We will go around him on everything.
I use to think that Kaashac would be the time and place for success; however, after seeing this new ship, I think we need more preparations. Also, after losing the engineer, that puts us behind on the weapon too. If we try to attack from Kaashac on the current time frame, it would mean that we would have to do it with conventional weapons. Our ships as they are, against this new ship, make me question whether our current plan would work. It is obvious that we need to make adjustments and we need to update our weaponry.
What if the colonies have more than this one ship? We need more information before we dare move ahead. Nevertheless, I’m certain that the general will not cooperate with us. He has more sway at the moment than I do. He will get his way on things, unless I can persuade someone like Akit. Because of this situation, I want our people transferred out of the ships at Kaashac. We will keep them in reserve until we get the information we need. I don’t want our loyal guys sacrificed by the general’s stupidity. If they surprise us and are successful at Kaashac, we will find enough opportunity to take command of those ships later. You will have to use your inside man to make those transfers. He should make it look as though the men are needed for something less desirable. We don’t want them to know that we are desperate to get our people out.
We will make a play for the other builders and designers involved in the weapon’s project. We will create another opportunity to get what we want. You will be there to make certain that it works out. Also, discreetly begin to recruit from the general’s men. Surely there are those noticing the weakness we see. Colonel
The colonel sent the message.
Guent was docking to the battleship when the message came through. “Now what?” Guent grumbled tiredly, feeling relieved that someone else would be flying for a few days.
© Copyright 2018 by Jene Beal all rights reserved.