Science Fiction and Adventure Books Page 1

	FREE AUDIO BOOK narrated by  Robert P. Fitton FREE AUDIO   Unimited Annual Access to all Fitton e-books and PODCAST Episodes $ 6.99	FREE E-BOOK ADOBE (PDF) MS READER (LIT) PALM PILOT (.pdb) Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14-15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17-18 Chapter 19-20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23-24 Chapter 25 Eplilogue
	paperback	Fitton's Galactic Command Series. Voyage 24. Join Commander John Ross and the crew of ESS-14 , after the Antarian War, to a planet bordering a nebula on the edge of the galaxy. Ross chases a derelict ESS Commander and his Antarian conspirator. Beyond the nebula is an enclosed solar system, controlled by omnipotent life forms who desire a cataclysmic future for Galactic Command.
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Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton   Voyage 24 GALACTIC COMMAND: 29 JUNE, 2155 GALACTIC TIME JOHN B. ROSS, COMMANDER PELONIS 756A, EXPLORER SPACE SHIP 14 MAIN LINK GC PELONIS, EARTH ADDITIONAL LINK, MOTHER SHIP 11, PELONIS 143 ON 15 JUNE, 2155 GT, ARTICLES OF PEACE WERE CONSUMMATED BETWEEN GALACTIC COMMAND AND THE ANTARIAN SANCTUM. THE ARTICLES, KNOWN AS THE BILATERAL WITHDRAWAL TREATY, WERE SIGNED ON ANTARES VI BY COMMAND COUNCIL ADMIRAL GATES AND ALL SITTING COUNCIL MEMBERS. THE TREATY MOVES THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ANTARIAN SANCTUM TO HALF THE PREWAR AREA AND CREATES A FULL WAR ZONE KNOWN AS ANTARIAN OCCUPIED TERRITORY. NO ANTARIAN VESSELS WILL NAVIGATE WITHIN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORY WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION, ESCORT, AND FULL REPRESENTATION OF SHIP'S ORDERS AND DESTINATION. ALL PRIOR ANTARIAN PLANETS AND OUTPOSTS EXISTING BEFORE THE HOSTILITIES WILL BE RETAINED BY GALACTIC COMMAND. MONITORING OF ALL ANTARIAN WEAPONS TESTING WILL BE REQUIRED, A LISTING OF ALL COMMERCE PROVIDED TO EARTH PELONIS LINK. VIOLATIONS OF THE BATTLEFIELD OR MONITORING REQUIREMENTS WILL BE CONSIDERED A FULL ACT OF WAR AND TREATED ACCORDINGLY. THE ENSUING PERIOD OF PEACE WAS PROCLAIMED BY COMMAND GROUP ADMIRAL GATES. IN ATTENDANCE FROM ESS-14 WERE COMMANDER ROSS, COMMANDER HUGH LINDSAY AND LT. COMMANDER WALTER KUCHINSKI. COMMANDER ROSS WAS PRESENTED BY ADMIRAL EBERT WITH THE SOLEMN ORDER OF BATTLE FOR THE VICTORY AT THE MAREGAULT STAR SYSTEM, FORCING THE ANTARIAN FLEET SURRENDER. COMMANDER LINDSAY RECEIVED CITATION BY ADMIRAL EBERT FOR THE MERITORIOUS BATTLE STAR, THE VALOR COMMENDATION WAS BESTOWED UPON LT. COMMANDER KUCHINSKI. A FIVE DAY LEAVE ABOARD THE MOTHER SHIP WAS GRANTED BY ADMIRAL EBERT TO SENIOR CREW MEMBERS. COMMANDER LINDSAY AND MYSELF HAVE LEFT ESS-14 FOR THE MOTHER SHIP AND DOWN TIME. ROSS, COMMANDING ESS-14

Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton    1      He was on a continuous binge for three days and did not care who knew about it. After four and one half years of battle, confined within his ship, fighting occasional battles on twenty-three planets, and under the constant threat of Antarian attack, John Ross, Commander of Explorer Ship 14, wanted to push the limits of his physical and emotional stamina.   In the murky blue light he rapidly lost his concentration after the second brewmac. Months had passed since he had drunk so heavily and chased women like this. Still he drifted back to last week's peace treaty ceremonies on the Antarians home planet. The sole surviving city building's clear green windows reflected Antares VI's rugged mountain peaks and the looming crimson sun. Command engineers had constructed a long pavilion, amidst the rubble. The long surrender tables were positioned in a parallel fashion, under the blue glow of a newly constructed Command Sphere, designating the five hundred and six aligned planets.   Ross visualized the wispy, white haired Antarian cerbacs, in full dull silver uniform, as they marched in under heavy guard along the formcrete. Missing was Cerbuin Rafec, killed in Ross' final attack at the Maregault Star System. Every surviving cerbac must have felt the humiliation of surrendering on their home planet. Seated at the glossy, black slab tables, their pale faces wrinkled as the treaty was read. Further compounding the humiliation was Command's decision not only to send the treaty signing across Galactic Command on frequency channels, but throughout Sanctum. Antarian feelings mattered very little with the war over. Ross realized he was now not trapped behind ESS-14's command consoles, but tucked away little bar pit in the mother ship's belly.   He had remembered this low-lit dungeon pit from a few years ago, when he and Chris Keller, commander of ESS-19, stumbled in here after one of the Antarian battles. It was as if the same blue haze still hung over the tightly packed bar. Lindy, holding the mugs high in the air, moved his large two hundred and forty pound frame through the crowd. Ross stood as his second in command finally made his way back to the small round table.   " John, I swear you need a level one security clearance to pass through those idiots out there! I had my pocket picked three times, my ass pinched twice, and some barge freighter from Zosma tried to explain how she had some cosmic prevail dust for only fifteen marquees."   " So, what's the complaint, Lindy?" Ross took the bright blue brewmac to his lips. Not bad for a mother ship beer, but not as rich as the stuff found on the open space trade routes before the war. " I told you this place would be a good diversion for us." 1

Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton         " I can't believe it's actually over. No more fighting." Lindy smacked his lips. " They've shipped in this brewmac."   " I was just thinking that," said Ross, looking around the loud, darkened pit. " There are more women here than you want to know about. Half of them are loaded with transmuted eloviruses."   " Just what I need." Lindy took in more brewmac. " Spend a month in some medifac having my innards snipped by some genetic strand slicer."   Ross nodded as he continued to scan the pit. He remembered the tall blonde he had met here with Keller and how he had never seen her again. He was away from ESS-14 for three days back then, until his propulsion engineer, Frank Muldoon and some third rank personnel dragged him and Keller out of a docked pleasure ship before the ship left port. He smiled as he thought about the pleasure ship.   " What are you grinning about?" Lindy also looked around the pit.   " I was just thinking back to the last time I was on the mother ship," said Ross. He stroked his chin beard stubble.   " I bet," said Lindy and they both men surveyed the bar. " Where do you think they'll send us next, John?"   Ross raised his finger. He was looking at two young women with looped ringed ears and reized hair, neatly woven like a fabric.   " What do you think of reized hair, Lindy?" Lindy turned around." I'm not looking at the hair."   " Neither am I." The women were dressed in silver metallic shorts and were alone. Ross stood and started across the pit.   " On the prowl. There he goes. Full Battle Alert," shouted Lindy, raising the mug to his lips again. " Full Battle Alert."   But as Ross began his move across the bar, two younger third ranks appeared and the reized haired ladies were escorted away. He turned and looked back at his dark eyed friend.   " Que sera, sera," said Lindy, laughing. 2

Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton      Ross returned to the table." I knew it was too good to be true." He held his brewmac. " Where are we going? Where is Admiral Ebert sending ESS-14?"   " Yeah, that was the question."   " Lindy, Galactic Command has five hundred and six planets, in four space sectors. There are seventy-two mother ships, not to mention the outposts, the colony vessels, and non-aligned planets. As well as the Antarian Occupied Territory. And you want me to tell you where Ebert is sending us?"   " Yeah."   " After four years of war, we will be sent on a vacation. Map space. Visit the non-aligned planets we know little about."   " We deserve an assignment like that. Those Antarian bastards cost us too many lives." Ross lifted his brewmac into the air. " May the Antarians never rise from the ashes."   " Nor even try."   " All comes down to marquees, Lindy," said Ross, still searching the bar. " The Antarians were broke."   " Everybody needs a benefactor."   " They'll be back as soon as the coffers are full. No matter what they might have said in all the surrender ceremonies. I don't trust them."   " Oh, John, they were beaten and beaten badly. Even if they were funded, how could they ever bother us again? Their home planet in ruins, fleet in shambles and settlements occupied."   " I have it on good authority that Gates wanted to put all their upper command on prison planets, but the Group turned up the heat. Thought it might look bad with the non-aligned planets."   " Gates is the top dog," said Lindy. " He heads the Command Group."   " He's been renominated and elected by The Group, but do you think, if he sent all the Antarians away for good he would still be where he is?"   " I hear you. Then he's just a puppet, John. If that's what you're saying."   " Yeah. He saved his own hide instead of doing the right thing. Now, we may have to face it all over again. How many lives will be lost because of that decision? He has left them free to plot and start the conflict all over again."   Ross looked over his shoulder and in the blue light saw a short woman with trimmed silver hair walk into the bar. She was dressed formally in a green, two-piece day suit and she waved at Ross. 3

Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton     " That's Nancy Burke!" Lindy turned. " I knew I'd catch her here. She looks like hell ..."   They stood as she approached the table, computer clipboard for writing in her hand. She had lost weight and her skin had a pale, matted appearance.;" Well, well, well. I see the scooner sweepers have brought in the space junk."   Ross gently pecked his old friend on the cheek.   " Can't keep that viewer bender's clipboard away from you, can you?" asked Lindy as he shook her hand.   " Have I got a surprise for you space rogues."   Ross pulled up a chair for her, but remained concerned about her frail appearance. " How long has it been, Nancy?" Ross leaned back and crossed his legs. " Can I get you a brewmac? How are you feeling? Are you all right?"   " One question at a time, Commander. First answer: Fifteen months, right before you went out to encounter that Antarian who was starting his own little empire."   " Commander Zariac and his defiance of the Antarian Command. I thought we had him over on our side, but he headed for deep space."   " Deep is not deep enough," Lindy produced a low, contagious belly laugh. " That is a story I would like to bend. It's all wrapped up in a Command Intelligence file," said Nancy.   Ross uncrossed his legs and leaned toward her." How did you find out about Zariac? That was classified."   " No comment," she said. " And the answer to your second question is no. And I'm on a damned required diet from my doctor."  " Anything serious?" asked Lindy.   " Oh, no. Just the usual maladies of pushing fifty," she said.   " Our dealings with Zariac." Ross moved even closer to her. " The Zariac affair is classified."   " Word leaks out, Commander. Now that your this big battle hero."   Ross smiled. " That's old news, Nancy. I know you have political connections. Big political connections."   " Probably why I've been chosen to be on your next voyage."   " What? A viewer bender on an Explorer Space Ship? Something if off frequency with that image. No offense."   Lindy laughed and lifted the brewmac mug to his lips. " We don't even know where the hell we're going."   " Something big is up," said Nancy.   " Big?" Ross laughed and looked at Lindy. She might be revealing Command Voyage orders. " The war is finished, the battles over... there is nothing big left, Nancy."   4

Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton       " It is important enough for Admiral Gates to personally push me on this voyage."   " Really? Now you've piqued my curiosity. We were just saying how easy things were going to be for us now. You sure you want to be on something big?" Ross pointed at her, thinking someone had fed her a line about this being a big voyage.   " I've hardly ever been off the mother ship, John." She thought for a moment and her blue eyes brightened. " This is just what I need right now. To get away."   " Nancy, if you have any knowledge of Voyage 19, and our dealings with Commander Zariac, you should know that an Explorer Space Ship can be a hazardous assignment."   " I am aware of that, but I figure any man who could survive the Antarian War, in as many battles as you both were in, will survive whatever mission Gates orders you on."   " Orders are orders, John," said Lindy with a big smile. He finished the brewmac and rapped the mug on the wooden table.   " Yes, Commander, they are. And I have yet to receive any orders."   " You should begin cataloguing your career, John. People would be interested. All the planets you've seen before and during the war."    " That's why we have frequency reports back to Command," Ross was still not happy about a civilian on ESS-14.   Nancy smiled and held his hand briefly. " Maybe they'll send you in search of non-human intelligent life. With all the planets, settlements recorded, no contact with the Anchaus."   Ross studied her blue eyes as she spoke and was convinced she was hinting ESS-14's new orders involved checking for the Anchaus. Any member of Galactic Command would have kept such information to himself. Even more than before, he doubted whether bringing a viewer bender on a voyage was a good idea.   Lindy spoke in an official voice, the brewmac kicking in. " Are you referring to intelligent life independently evolved?"   " Exactly, all the planets," said Nancy. " So much independently evolved life abounding, but no Anchaus."   " True... Now, " said Lindy, " Humanity spread out over this portion of the galaxy and we diverged into such radically different societies. Even the Antarians are an evolved race within the human umbrella."   " The human umbrella," said Ross, grinning. " You ought to use that in your bend, Nancy."   " Why is there just one independently evolved intelligent race?"   Ross' face tightened and he kept his distance. " If you have Command voyage information."   She smiled and both men stood with her. " Things will be changing sooner than you think, Ross from Markab IV. I'll see you both onboard ship."   Ross gently squeezed her icy hand and studied her tired eyes. " As a friend, I would love you onboard. As a Commander, I have to protest it."   " This is a fait accompli," she said. " Sorry."   Ross faced Lindy as she turned and moved slowly through the bar pit. " I don't like this."   " She'll never get onboard, John. That's the viewer bender in her talking. When does Command routinely allow civilians on board an ESS vessel? Unless their scientists or assigned personnel like Sebastian."   " But Sebastian is an excellent cook." Ross watched Nancy disappear through the crowd and into the foggy shadows. He shook his head. " I'm going to fight this."   " You should be able to squelch it." A couple of blondes caught Ross' eye. Lindy looked in the same direction and smiled. " Back on course to our primary mission here tonight.   " Full speed ahead, Lindy." 5

Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton       2     As the hours passed Ross could not figure why he had hardly touched his brewmac, but the animated Lindy entertained two good looking, but very boring woman for the mother ship administrative offices. Ross listened to Lindy's yarns of distant voyages. He had heard the same stories a dozen times and rolled his eyes as Lindy embellished every incident, raising his brewmac mug as he spoke. The women sat like two school girls and Ross wondered if they had ever been off the mother ship.   " Another brewmac!" shouted Lindy.   Ross counted six mugs on the table. He smiled. At least Lindy was relaxing at war's end. " I'll get it, Lindy."   Ross checked his counter. Three in the morning and the darkened, packed pit shook with loud Topaz bass music and a grind of uninterrupted, useless conversation. He maneuvered his way to the long polished black bar and looked down the pink and green neon moldings, at the wide diversity of space travelers in the mirror maze. " Four brewmacs."   " Four?" asked the brewmaster.   " Four."   His tab appeared in bright green digits on his debit sheet screen. The brewmaster took the order from spherical chrome formulator and set the tall frosted blue mugs on a clear tray. Ross nodded, added a tip to the debit sheet. But he stayed at the bar, worried about Nancy Burke's appearance and her vague references to the Anchaus. As was about to pick up the brewmac tray, he saw two space rogues giving Lindy a hard time back at the table. He spun from the bar like ship leaving space dock at breakaway speed. One of the rogues took a swing a Lindy, but his second in command slammed his fist into the man's jaw. Both rogues were on him now as the women scattered.   Ross vaulted one table and then another. He took a leaping dive into the air, clutching the first rogue at the collar and disabled him at the knee with a vicious kick. As Lindy pummeled the second one, Ross displayed his proficiency fourteen defense skills and outmaneuvered the rogue, beating him to the ground.   As he turned toward Lindy's attacker, Command security, in their black and silver uniforms, holding drac beamers upward, appeared in the crowd. Ross knew he had only about fifteen or twenty seconds before security arrived. He pulled the rogue back and with a series of thrust kicks, spun around, landing two well placed jabs into the man's midsection. The rogue collapsed as security pointed snub nosed silver dracs into their faces.   Ross, about to identify himself, turned as the three security men next produced restraining harnesses. Glowing red energy fields surrounded him and they were led through the pit.   " These rogues attacked my second in command!"   " Tell that to the Administrator. He gets these cases by the hour," said the first rank.   " I demand to talk to Admiral Ebert," said Ross.   " We are Command Off.. offi... offithers!" shouted Lindy.   6

Galactic Command: The Nebula Planet Robert P. Fitton       " Sure..." The first rank pushed them out of the pit. Ross struggled within the belt and looked down at his blue fatigue suit. " I am Commander John B. Ross, Explorer Ship Fourteen."   " Yeah, and I'm the Command Group Admiral," said the first rank. " Where's your uniform, Commander?"   " We're on extended off vessel time," said Lindy. " If you weren't such a thick head, you would have checked our scans."   " Shut up," said the second rank.   They were marched into the village courtyard and over to a nearby conveyer tube. Ross kept arguing with them, drawing the attention of the passersby in the square as they were shoved into the tube.   " Level twenty-eight. Section 5," said the first rank.   Ross, pushed to the seat, quickly stood. " I'll have your ass for this. What's your name?"   The man nodded to his subordinates and they expanded the restraining belts over his and Lindy's mouth. He breathed through his nose as the bright red glow around the belt matched his seething anger. This guy did not know Ross could have him demoted ten times and working on a barge vessel outside the Andromedan Waste Sector.  * * *     For three hours they sat in a containment tub somewhere in Section 5 of the mother ship. At least the restraints were off Ross paced the stark green booth and continually complained about the security men. Morning had come and Lindy slept against the security wall as Ross shouted." I would request my right to be scanned. I would request my right to representation!"   A sparkling gold opening slowly formed within the green field. He closed his mouth when the entire security barrier collapsed into a standard eight by ten room with white security field tubes. More baffling was the presence in the hallway of Admiral Ebert and three Group Admirals in their gold uniforms. He nudged Lindy. His second in command opened his eyes and held his temples.   " Oh, my head is spinning."   " I'll get you to a medifac later. Lindy... Ebert."   " The same to you. What? Ebert?" asked Lindy, squinting. He sat up when he saw Ebert. Ross helped him to his feet.   Ross spoke out of the corner of his mouth " I think we're sunk, Lindy."   Lindy and Ross stood to attention as the corridor field dropped and the four men entered the room. Then the entire security wall went up again.   Ross moved up to Ebert and the other Admirals, saluting quickly. " Sir, I can explain."   " Problems off vessel, John?" asked Ebert.   The other Group Admirals were smiling. He knew them all: Admirals Glover, Mackenzie, and Anderson. Mackenzie, his old friend from the Altair Command Institute, winked at him. This seemed to have nothing to do with the bar arrest. Lindy, his large body rigid, raised his brows at Ross.   " By now, of course," said the white haired little Admiral Glover.   " You have surmised we are here on a mission."   " Yes, sir."   " You're going on a long voyage, John," said Ebert.     7 Home Page   Unimited Annual Access to all Fitton e-books and PODCAST Episodes $ 6.99   © 2000 - 2007 Fitton Books. All rights reserved.

Science Fiction and Adventure Books Page 1

	paperback	A witness sent by Tom Loftus's former case officer prompts him and Zach to leave for Vermont. He meets Kath, his lost love. Discoveries in the mountains set forth a chain of events leading a military assault on a large facility near the earth's magnetic core, With soldiers he fights a vicious alien before he and Zach depart onto an intergalactic passageway.
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Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton       Sojourn Series  Desperado  1     The end of the world was not so bad. Even at a young age Trebor knew Alta-Shar was collapsing. He held his father's strong callused hand and followed the Montang down the rock terraced, mountain trail. The silver star cruisers had spun out of the vermilion skies, but the morning attack convinced him the Montang survivors would stay on the run and avoid the towering creatures during the final purge. He had seen their green bodies strewn across the river sands. His father called them Creods. They were twice as tall as his father, with long thin bodies and heads larger than Montang foodstuff bags. Their blue-black mesh eyes bore little resemblance to smaller Alta-Sharian eyes. Yellow crusted blood leaked from their open wounds and pink fangs stuck out from their little mouths. Trebor longed for the world he knew before the cluster attacks.   The advance scout leaped over the trail rocks and the Montang stopped. " We cannot leave the mountains!" " Why not?" asked Sator.  " The cluster ships occupy the skies and cover all the land to Tarcin City. There is no way to cross without being seen." Many Montang members voiced anger at the news. Too many Alta-Sharians were already dead. Trebor's own Mother and sister were struck down as they ran from the attack last week. The scout tried to yell over their chatter. " Wait! We have another course! We do... Follow the ancient legends. Listen to what the Learned Ones have taught us and find Ta-Buhn-Shar. We may be the last of the Alta-Sharian people. Ta-Buhn-Shar is the last hope of our people!"   Trebor's father stepped forth from the confusion. " The scout is right. It is said the Shrine of Ta-Buhn-Shar contains the passageway to other worlds."  " That is only legend," said a dirty little man named Aoak from across the circle.   1

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton      One of the white bearded Learned Ones held up a well worn, faded red book. The Montang fell to the ground as he lowered the book and opened it slowly in dusk's orange light. Trebor tried to under-stand his weak voice.  " Hear the word of Ta-Buhn-Shar: ' We have left our mark. The Buhnsharf stretches to the sky. It is clear. The haven. The resting place. It is the door to the other worlds and forever. Where the Carpun meets the Berverltin above the Sempta. The way set forth. Trust your convictions and the passage shall be made clear.' The way of Ta-Buhn-Shar!"  Thunder again rumbled down the canyon. Trebor scrambled behind the rocks and blocked his ears as the green flashes lit the clouds. The first blast was muffled and far away, but the ground slowly shook. His father's arm was locked around Trebor's back as pebbles and sand trickled down the cliffs. Somehow the mountains protected the Montang from the cluster probes. The Creods could not attack as long as he hid below the rock ledges.  The battle was distant as the afternoon light darkened. Occasional blasts soon faded and the frightening flashes stopped. The Montang stayed under the ledge until the cruisers were really gone.   Trebor's father hoisted him into the evening air. He raised his arm and spoke loudly. " You heard the Learned One. Between the Carpun and the Berverltin! The two most prominent sky figures and only seen in the upper part of the planet... meeting at the portion of the sky directly overhead, the Sempta."   Trebor let his mind be taken by the truth as he resonated to Ta-Buhn-Shar. And his inner soul sensed the need and the purpose to find the Shrine and escape the Creod invaders. He resonated deeply and fell to the ground with the others.   * * *     Loftus could not halt his mind's journey into wavy, white light. Phil snapped his fingers. A befuddled look swept across his balding, gray haired friend's thin face. After ten sessions, deep under hypnosis, Phil should have deciphered this Creod stuff. 2

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton   2     July 10, 2048    " Loftus, are you all right?" asked Phil.   Loftus swiped the sweat puddle off his brow. The regressions always zapped his strength and not understanding his forays to the far away planet frustrated him. " You're the doctor here. What the hell is going on?"  " I don't know."   Loftus staggered to his feet. Indirect or evasive answers were unacceptable. Phil's psychiatric credentials with the Defense Secret Service were impeccable. " Phil, I brought you over here to find out why I keep having these dreams about aliens... spaceships... Come on. What gives?"  " I listened to a report from the Central Feeds last night. I wasn't going to bring it up."   " Bring up what?" asked Loftus, shaking his head. " I trust no one. That's my credo."   " Fine." Phil lifted his computer into his palm. " Well, there was a report in northern Canada... a report of an alien sighting. I transmitted it into my portable."  " I'm game."   Phil stared at the portable. " Run the Canada audio."   The machine clicked and the sound blasted. "... was seen two times late Tuesday afternoon. One witness described the creature as alien in nature and well over seven feet tall near an isolated tundra stretch. A man driving home with his family in a pickup truck saw the being, whom he described as green skinned and mesh eyed, board a high powered aircraft, which disappeared north into the evening skies. No further reports have been confirmed."   3

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton       " So what?" asked Loftus.   " Sounds like your Creod."   He waved his hand. " What are you telling me, I'm picking up the Central Feeds in my head now?"   Phil walked over to Loftus's roll top desk and sat in the creaky oak chair. He plopped the portable on the desk and exhaled. " Loftus, I tell you, I don't know what's going on."   " I've known you for fifteen years. Since the damned Chinese action. You've seen everything that's happened in my life since then. We're good friends... Am I losing my mind? I mean if it's turning to mush, let me know."   " I have a theory."   Loftus folded his arms. " What is it?"   " We now live in a time after a worldwide economic crash, when our cities are collapsing and surrounded by barrier walls. The gap between rich and poor has spawned violence in urban areas."   " This mess never should have happened."  " That's what I'm saying. Our cities are armed military camps. People have joined the gangs opposing the government and are in the streets in open warfare&ldots; The Vice President killed by a rocket attack on the White House, itself. Numerous attempts to kill the President."   " That news is all distributed by the Central Feeds to the media outlets, Phil. I don't even watch it anymore." " I think you may be assuming responsibility for all of this because of what happened with you six years ago."   " I only know these dreams are real. It's like I am reliving them..."   " Well, that's absurd thinking. Look, Go back downstairs to your restaurant, Loftus. Be grateful you live over the bridge, in an area untouched by violence and you're not involved with the Panthers or DSS anymore."     4

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton        " There are power blackouts all the time. I lost a freezer's worth food last week here at the restaurant."   " Right, but there aren't armed patrols around this building. People aren't dying in Sausalito."   Loftus extended his arms. " If I'm not already crazy, I will be."   " You've become edgy."   Owning The Loft was not the same as fighting in the service and Phil knew it. Loftus paced like a dog waiting for its owner to return home. " Edgy? Sure, I'm edgy. Here running a restaurant when we're falling into the dark ages and I should be sitting in the Director's office at DSS. Instead we have Norman King as President of the United States and that dumb-ass, Harmon Mundy in charge at DSS. But my dream fell apart six years ago, didn't it Phil?"   Phil nodded slowly. " Loftus... Loftus, you have a great penchant for taking the world upon your shoul-ders. Nathan Allsworthy died on your watch. You were head of campaign security, but it wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself."   Loftus stopped and clamped his arms again. He concurred with Phil's point and gave him no argument. " Are you coming downstairs?"   " Maybe later I'll have some supper. Right now I have to go back to the office." Phil tightened his hand on Loftus's shoulder as Loftus' wrist phone beeped. " Loftus, don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of these dreams. I promise."   Loftus smiled, not really believing his friend would find a solution. He shook Phil's hand and waited as Phil headed down the stairs. Then he pushed the red button on the wrist phone and spoke the code to the phone's computer. " Computer: Eleven-eleven."  A rolling series of beeps merged into a crackled transmission. The computer adjusted the gain. " Desperado?"   Loftus' face tensed. No one had used his service cover name in years and very few people even knew of its existence. " Who the hell is this?"   " Someone who needs your help, Desperado. Before everything falls apart. Can you hear me?"   " I hear you... Who is your contact?" asked Loftus, looking at the red digits of an external number on his wrist screen.   " I need your help."   " And I need your contact!" 5

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton       The computer now displayed a blue and yellow map. This guy was standing at the far end of the quickrail station in Oakland. After a short silence the man blurted out more information. " Crow's Peak."   Frank Deluca, Loftus's former service officer, now a special assistant to President King had used Crow's Peak as his DSS name. The voice suddenly gained credibility. " Okay, I'll bite. Crow's peak... Interesting. What do you want and what is your cover?"   Loftus perked his ears as the man described how he had met Crow's Peak, but he would not say when nor where. Deluca had designated the guy as Water Balloon and wanted no contact until Loftus had fully debriefed Water Balloon. Loftus listened for ten or fifteen more seconds, but when Water Balloon talked about being involved in a covert operation, Loftus erupted. " You listen to me, hotshot, we've been on this line for forty-eight seconds. It takes fifty-seven seconds for the best computers to bug a Band 65 transmission!"   Loftus shouted out a safe external number on the San Francisco side of bridge and said he would be there in ten minutes. Then his phone timer light flashed red. But he did not override automatic termination. Dozens of computers in some monitoring station were in the preliminary stages of unscrambling his signal. A civilian having a DSS Band 65 phone was illegal. He could be jailed just for using it.   As he raced across his office, Water Balloon's phone call stirred his stomach like a spinning food blender. Over the past few years he had stayed away from anything resembling intelligence work. Other than his alien nightmares, things at The Loft rolled along smoothly. Getting involved with Frank Deluca, he thought, as he bounded down the stairs, was not the most prudent course, but fighting the lure of adventure proved difficult. Six years had passed since his last official assignment.   In the underground garage he jumped into his red convertible, started the car, but hesitated. Did he really need aggravation? He pressed his lips and shifted into reverse. His fingers wrapped around the shifter. He wanted redemption in his life and the excitement of covert work. Muscling the clutch, he skidded up the concrete ramp. The sunlight glare hit his eyes as he merged into traffic, flipped his sunshades and thought about Deluca. Not many people would be given access to his old cover. As he drove toward the bridge he wondered about the real importance of Water Balloon's call. 6

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton       Out of habit, just like the old days, he repeatedly checked his rearview mirror. He shifted with the traffic flow. The easy thing would be to turn around, drive back to the garage, and spend the evening at the restaurant. The traffic clogged and Water Balloon inundated his thoughts as precious minutes ticked by on his wrist clock. He tapped his fingers on the wood steering wheel.   Maybe this was a set-up just like six years ago. As he gazed over the shimmering bay water toward San Francisco, the whole ugly scenario came rushing back like the incoming tide under the bridge. His idol and mentor, D. Nathan Allsworthy had just received the party's nomination in Long Beach, and Captain Thomas B. Loftus commanded all security for the campaign.   He had taken all precautions to clear the harbor and his people had scanned Allsworthy's boat a hundred times. Even the satellites, the sky patrols, and the bay boats saw nothing unusual. Now the explosion rumbled through time and the fireball flared skyward. Back then he knew immediately his career had disintegrated along with the debris raining through the balmy air. There would be no general election campaign. The scapegoat, Captain Thomas B. Loftus, would brood on the sidelines as the Vice Presidential nominee went down to a stunning defeat against Norman King. Allsworthy never would have walled off the cities. He had walked with the masses through the barrios and slums, and invested in industry zones without polarizing people. His planned inauguration, all the hopes to stabilize the economy through appropriate tax reductions, urban revitalization and new industries were only fleeting incarnations now. Loftus was a fool for rehashing it.   He finally accelerated toward the dull, red Golden Gate, but quickly slowed at the military barricades. Troops clad in olive fatigues rounded green camouflaged convoy trucks. He could remember a time when he crossed the bridge freely. In the distance, over the bay, a fifteen foot cracked concrete wall with internal sensors and barbed wire tangled above, lined the waterfront. Phil was right about his living on the Sausalito side.   The computers evaluated his entry card and the troops waved him through the checkpoint. Loftus drove under the suspended cables and crested the bridge. Once off the bridge he shot off the ramp and slid across the stones to the external phone behind the rest area building. He fixated on his image in the side mirror. His bright blue eyes longed for action as the wind blew back his sandy hair. Eleven minutes had passed since the end of his wrist phone transmission. He crossed his arms over his chest. To his right the troops moved the traffic across the bridge in pulses like his pounding heart. This was not an ordinary call with Deluca involved.   The phone ring shook him and he ripped the receiver from the hook. " Yeah..." 7

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton       " Desperado?"   " Who the hell is this?"   " Water Balloon."   " Okay, time to level with me, buddy."   " I would prefer not to do that," he said. " At least not right now."   " Look, start talking or I hang up."   " Crow's Peak told me to come directly to you. My life is in great danger at this point. I'm on my way to San Francisco."   Loftus could not resist getting involved and Deluca was asking for his help. He owed Deluca from way back. " Where are you now?"   " I cannot comment on that."   " Well, you damn as well better if you want my help." The line hiss hung in the earpiece. " Are you there?"   " Listen, people are being murdered."   " What people?" asked Loftus.   " Crow's Peak said only you could unravel this. He said RIMA is involved."   " How do you know about RIMA?"   " I don't. That's what he told me to tell you."   Research In Mechanical Application, the advanced scientific development side of DSS, hidden from Congress and the public, had produced striking advancements when he was with the service. " That's interesting."   " I will contact you again."   " Yeah, but-" The transmission ended, he hung up and stared at the phone. Maybe he needed to get to the Oakland quickrail station. He peered around the log building back to the bridge. " Loftus, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?"   He turned toward the bay and took a long breath. Water Balloon was directed by one of the most powerful people in the country. The sailboats moving gracefully across the inner bay contrasted the turmoil brewing in his head. His life had slipped into a secure routine at The Loft and he was hesitant to break the cycle, yet the thought of getting involved proved too compelling. 8

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton     3     He had built The Loft to overlook the bay. The city lights twinkled now as he paced the outside deck. Zach left over an hour ago and was overdue. He raised the frost Bourbon and water glass to his lips and smiled, knowing how much he thrived on stress. Even with the current upheaval he missed the field assignments and risking his life chasing down real and perceived enemies. Maybe he needed danger to confirm his own existence.   His wrist phone sounded and 11:11 flashed bright red on the blue crystal display. Zach had just indicated Water Balloon was in the restaurant van. Loftus finished his drink and plowed through his restaurant. As he passed into the main dining room a few patrons waved to him from the congested outside canopy. His staff of waiters, carrying full food trays, darted between the tables, and the room buzzed. It was not a bad showing for a Thursday night.   He veered into the smoky lounge. The music blasted from large floor speakers and the people were rowdy. He jaunted up the wood staircase to his office, pushed the alarm code and, once inside, walked along the window span above the dining areas. At his desk he slid open the drawer containing the monitor control box and switched the main monitor to The Loft's underground garage. At any moment Zach would pilot the white restaurant van through the street entrance.   The adrenaline flowed now. Maybe getting into a clandestine operation after the Allsworthy fiasco was only a dream. By helping Deluca, he forced himself back into active duty, but risked Harmon Mundy keeping him under surveillance. His wrist phone sounded again as he scanned back to the lounge monitors.   " Aloha," said Zach.   The white van, with THE LOFT in deep green letters on the side, hurdled over the street hump and dipped into the garage's low light. Loftus smiled as Zach skidded next to the concrete delivery dock. Bushy haired and forever smoking a stale cigar stub, he drew his long barrel handgun as emerged in his jeans and gray sweatshirt. He trotted around the hood and yanked open the passenger side door. Water Balloon was short, in his twenties, with thick glasses and curly orange hair. He gingerly stepped onto the concrete. Loftus had never seen him before, but the monitor computer scanned his image for a background check. As he followed them on another screen through a kitchen corridor, a composite profile, complete with photo, appeared in the corner of the main viewer. 9

Sojourn Series: Desperado Robert P. Fitton   O'Brien, Mark J. Appleton, Vermont b. 4-01-36 ms: single Employed: Appleton Police Dept. Appleton, VT NO ARRESTS Further information available     Loftus compressed his brow. He went to college in Appleton and Kath still there. On the third monitor Zach motioned the kid up the office stairs. Loftus stood and faced the door. Zach entered his code, the door beeped, and O'Brien looked scared as he entered the office.   " Nobody on the scanner, Captain. We weren't followed." Zach shut the door and reactivated the security locks. " He tells me nobody knows he's gone. He has Thursdays and Fridays off."   Loftus sat on the edge of his desk and stared at O'Brien's innocent face. He would give O'Brien ample opportunity to lie. " Drink?"   " No thank you."   Loftus moved toward him. " Okay, who are you?"   " Maybe I will have that drink." He wrung hands over his folded blue windbreaker as Loftus opened the cherry wood liquor cabinet across from the monitors. " You are Desperado?"   " Yup." Loftus poured a hefty shot of whiskey into the water and mixed it in a heavy clear glass. He retraced his steps across the office and gazed into O'Brien's watery blue eyes. " Here, now who are you and why is your life in danger?"   O'Brien sipped the drink and squinted. " My name is Mark O'Brien. I'm a police officer."   At least he told the truth. " Interesting," said Loftus and he again sat on his desk. " You don't look like a cop."   " Appleton is isolated, a rural area in the mountains... Not like the cities. I joined the Appleton force last November."   Loftus looked at Zach and back to O'Brien. " Appleton, Vermont?"   " Yes, sir."   " I went to school in Appleton. New England University." Loftus shook his head. " How does some rookie police officer in a small hick college town like Appleton get placed in contact with Crow's Peak?"   O'Brien gripped the glass. His voice quivered. " I have been given information."   " Right, RIMA. That is classified information," said Loftus.   " Does the name John Garvey mean anything to you?"   Loftus kept his face solid and said nothing. Garvey was a high ranking DSS service officer, a cowboy, willing to take chances and very sure of himself. Considered ruthless, he carried out orders without question.         10 Other books in Sojourn Trilogy: The Vagut Emnas The Awaited One Home Page   Unimited Annual Access to all Fitton e-books and PODCAST Episodes $ 6.99