Cat and Company Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  About Cat and Company

  Praise for the Interspace Origins series

  People, Places and Things

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  More Science Fiction Romance by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  About the Author

  Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Copyright Information

  About Cat and Company

  Can Bedivere win Cat back?

  Bedivere is trapped in a snare of drugs and violence, deep in the bowels of the galaxy, while Catherine works with Devlin Woodward, who campaigns tirelessly for Varkan rights. Devlin’s great deeds make him the most influential man in the known worlds.

  When human and Varkan life is shattered by the emergence of the Periglus from the Silent Sector and their ruthless annexation of human worlds, Devlin’s Varkan allies may be the only people who can save the galaxy.

  Can Bedivere claw his way back to civilization and win Catherine back, despite the Periglus, Devlin’s power and Bedivere’s own flawed humanity?

  This book is part of the Interspace Origins science fiction romance series:

  Book 1: Faring Soul (Award Winner)

  Book 2: Varkan Rise

  Book 3: Cat and Company

  Praise for the Interspace Origins series

  I know Tracy is a great writer but I was not much into science fiction. Well, now I am!!

  I loved Catherine Shahrazad, who is a strong, in charge female.

  I'm amazed by the creativity of not only the characters but the detail of sights, sound and interaction.

  If you have read any of Tracy's other books you know what awaits you....sheer reading pleasure.

  This is truly science fiction at its best.

  People, Places and Things

  People

  Ammyn Heray

  Invented jump gate technology.

  Asold Aler

  Head of the Cartel on Soward.

  Bedivere X

  Catherine Shahrazad’s pilot and lover.

  Birgir Stoyan, The

  Tenth Millennium, Second Century, FY.

  The Birgir Stoyan was a shipmind that became aware during the early years of the Staff of Ammon purges. In response to the perceived threat of the Staffers, with no human to guide or direct it, the shipmind kills everyone aboard and escapes to an unknown location. It is the events of the Birgir Stoyan that consolidated the Staff of Ammon’s hold on human culture, directing human activities and thought for generations.

  Catherine Shahrazad

  a.k.a. Caitlyn Azad, Cat.

  Undocumented reputation as the oldest person in the galaxy and direct descendant of Glave of Summanus.

  Connell Yair

  Brant’s Varkan friend.

  David Jacksanch

  Director of the Civil Obedience Bureau on Nicia (the gendarmerie)

  Devlin Woodward

  Lobbyist and Varkan rights activist. Successfully campaigned for formal Varkan rights and freedoms.

  Done Rison

  President of the Oceania Securities Group and consultant investigator.

  Fareed Brant

  Former Staff of Ammon enforcer. Lilita Washmaster’s lover.

  Gramoor

  A Cartel-like organized crime group located on Shanterry.

  Jovanka “Jo” Runa

  A Varkan

  Kare Sarkisian

  Former Magnate of the Federation Board. Suicided after the dissolution of the Federation.

  Kemp Rodagh

  Former passenger aboard Catherine and Bedivere’s ship, originally from Soward

  Lilita (Lilly) Washmaster

  Engineer and Fareed Brant’s lover. Former Cadfael College Aneesh.

  Maxaria

  Barman and businesswoman on Shanta gate station.

  Mael Maedoc

  One of three Varkan pilots aboard the Hana Stareach

  Neweds Friday

  Former Prime Minister of Shanterry.

  Nichol August

  Mayor of the Celestial village on Charlton and Yennifer Charlton’s partner.

  Nichua Riyante

  Lilly’s College contact on Barros

  Shardy Phernes

  A Varkan on Shanterry.

  Sibéal Bakhuizen

  Created the mesh tether for Bedivere.

  The Varkan

  Våken = “Awake” (Ancient Terran origin, possibly Norwegian). Sentient computers.

  Vavay Him

  One of three Eistav (supreme commanders) of Cadfael College

  Yenniver Charlton

  Varkan and citymind, runs Charlton space city.

  ____

  Places

  Barros

  Located at the far end of the Perseus arm, in the Aibos system, part of the Aibosian Cluster.

  Cathain

  Cathain – the home world for the former Federation and the council.

  Charlton

  Charlton Space City, New Cathay (Ji Xiu Prime), Ji Xiu System, Perseus Arm

  The first of the new space cities forming in the galaxy, established by Catherine Shahrazad, Bedivere X, Connell Yair, Lilita Washmaster and Fareet Brant, FY 10.137.

  Darwin

  Sykora System - Cat and Bedivere first meet Brant there.

  Ey’Liv

  Storth IV. Far out on the Perseus arm and close to the Last Gate in the Silent Sector.

  Fu-Sang

  What passes for fringe territories—high risk worlds (non-Terra) that no one goes to, but hold valuable resources that can be mined under the right circumstances.

  Griswold

  Planet one light year beyond the Last Gate on the edge of the Silent Sector. Sixty percent beryllium ore. Only one colony on the planet.

  Gry

  Where the elite Ammonites (Staff of Ammon) enforcement cadre trained and lived.

  Harrivalé

  Ivaldi System, toward the edge of Federation space. Known for high quality life extending therapy and biotech.

  Ivory City, The

  The Federation council city within Cathain City. The inner, fortified city location for the Faring Federation.

  Kashya

  (Canum III)

  One of the new fringes worlds, non-Terran, high risk. High ore planet.

  Mehtap

  Mehtap Mining Colony, Velorum II, Velorum System.

  A dark world mining colony.

  New Gaia

  What passes for fringe territories—high risk worlds (non-Terra) that no one goes to, but hold valuable resources that can be mined under the right circumstances.

  Nicia

  Sunita II – part of the heavily populated Sunita System.

  Shanterry

  Shanta sys
tem inhabited planet. Shanta is known for advanced technology devices.

  Silent Sector, The

  Discovered mid-ninth millennium FY.

  The tail end of the Outer Arm of the galaxy, where star systems are farther apart. Was once part of the Fringes. Now it is the only sector of the galaxy that people avoid, for ships go missing and those that do return come with strange stories. There are rumors that the remains of a long-gone alien race from a heavier world were found there.

  Soward

  Home of the Jourden Cartel, Kemp Rodagh and the best wine in the galaxy

  Sunita

  Eight habitable planets and multiple moons, some also inhabited. Rich in arable land and the moons have ores. Sunita II: Nicia, an ocean world.

  Tordis

  The most recently colonized Terran style planet in the known worlds.

  Van Andel

  Home of Cadfael College. Cold Earth-like planet, mostly frozen. Third planet of the Gaios system, at the edge of the Galactic Bar, deep in the Federation Core.

  ____

  Things

  Aliza, The

  Aliza = “Joyful.” Bedivere’s advanced ship that he uses for transporting people and freight.

  Ammonites

  Staff of Ammon enforcers.

  Aneesh

  Clerics of Cadfael College. There are four ranks. Three supreme commanders, called “Eistav”. Executive level rank, “Kintav”. The second level, “Ailved”. Acolytes, “Tridith”. Various professions exist within each rank.

  Bible of Isaura

  Isaura Montanari is reputed to be Glave’s lover (possibly his wife) and his betrayer. Said to have lived in regret after Glave died. Wrote and preserved his teachings, a collection of stories and moral tales. Isaura’s work was lost during the Interregnum and the bible is a copy of heresy.

  Cadfael College

  Established mid-ninth millennium, FY (rumored).

  The Faithful of Mortal Divinity, through the College, influence everything. Civilization resumes post Interregnum, with the College providing education and directing the culture of the new, pure, humans. Children are supreme; the refreshing of the human gene pool is a priority.

  Choi Corsair

  High liner and commercial passenger carrier, one of the fastest in the galaxy.

  Decline, The

  Third to Eighth Millennia, FY. With practical immortality now available via life-extending therapies and regeneration, human reproduction slows and begins to decay.

  Egemon Incident, The

  Tenth Millennium, Tenth Century, FY.

  Staffers on Egemon try to lynch Catherine Shahrazad as an imposter and for crimes against the scriptures of Glave. The city, however, is highly religious and Shahrazad treated with reverence. The citizens turn on Staffers when they try to arrest Catherine, resulting in anarchy. No records exist of what happened to the Shahrazad and it is assumed she escaped during the civil uprising.

  Faithful of Mortal Divinity, The

  The guiding “religion” that emerges post-Interregnum, when humanity realizes that Glave’s Precepts were correct. Humanity becomes the new priority, with procreation the ultimate service to humankind.

  F.Y.

  Or FY. Faring Year.

  Faring Year 1 is considered to be the year that wormhole gate technology was perfected and put into commercial use by the original corporation that would become the Faring Federation. All other dates are based on this reference.

  Glave of Summanus

  An evangelist biologist living long before the Interregnum (circa mid-sixth millennium FY), during a time of extreme transhumanism and a slowing down of the human diaspora, known as “The Decline”.

  Glave wages twelve wars against non-humanists, then was destroyed by the treachery of his lover, Isaura, assassinated by the earliest form of the Faring Federation.

  Gu-Xia Gammon

  Biotech research facility on Harrivalé

  Interregnum, The

  Eighth to Ninth Millennium, FY. A period of chaos, religious wars and revolution. The Federation remove themselves, going into retreat and raising planetary defenses, leaving the galaxy to sort itself out.

  Interspace

  Sentient computers, who can grasp the human concept of “space” and human emotions and separate them from their digital thought processes, are able to see space and time as a digital representation, which enables them to select times and locations and move there, taking others with them, if they are shipminds.

  Particle Beam

  Ship to surface weapon. Can be nuclear. Highly unstable.

  Rattler

  A type of plasma-bolt firing personal weapon. Various brands available. Professionals favor Baldovini. Wiebe is a cheaper brand, with a poor reputation.

  Shipminds

  Sentient computers who are installed as ship computers. The ship is essential the computer, which allows them to move the ship and everyone on it through Interspace.

  Sommera

  A black spirit with high alchohol content.

  Staff of Ammon

  The combat/enforcement arm of Cadfael College. Ammonites believe in the superiority of humans over machines and use force to ensure human compliance with Glave’s Precepts, as written down in the Bible of Isaura. Extremely anti-computers. Called The Faithful, or “Staffers” by commoners.

  Torment of the Sinnikka, The

  Tenth Millennium, First Century, FY.

  The first recorded sentient computer was located in the Sinnikka system (an insular system of combat-oriented people) and records indicate it was the citymind. (“The” Sinnikka). When the Sinnikka became aware, after four days of cross-examination, the people of that city destroyed it and all AI nearby. The Sinnikka spread out among nearby worlds and become the core of the Staff of Ammon.

  Chapter One

  Unknown location. Forgotten date.

  Even through two-meter-thick outer hull walls the roar of a crowd determined to see blood was loud enough to make it difficult to hear what anyone in the room was saying. Either it was the growl of the audience or it was the low grade buzz in his ears that had been there for weeks, or maybe months, growing softer or louder depending on how close he was to his next dose. Bedivere wasn’t certain which one it might be. He didn’t care either way.

  There were a lot of people in the room. It had once been a metal-lined utility closet but now was a dressing room of sorts, filled with the quiet, watchful men who ran these shows and sometimes with fans who had worked their way into the inner core of the savage pits. Rarely were there any women. Women liked watching the fights well enough. They just preferred to beckon the winners from afar with their fat purses, not drool on them behind the scenes.

  Bedivere kept his head down and his gaze on his hands as the medic sealed the open wounds over his knuckles from a previous fight. He was up next and it didn’t do to step onto the pad already bleeding.

  There was a roar from the crowd outside the room. Everyone looked up at the monitors around the room to check. Bedivere lifted his head to check. Whoever survived this fight would face him sooner or later. It was good to watch them and learn any weaknesses.

  Except the buzzing was building in his head. He studied the medic. It wasn’t Klement, the usual one. Klement had been a soft touch. This one had deep wrinkles around his mouth and bags beneath his eyes. The eyes were watery and the whites yellow. No one out here was a shining example of humanity. Even the medics had pasts they were running from.

  “Hey, doc,” Bedivere said softly. “Do you have anything for pain?”

  The brown eyes flickered up to his face, then back to what the doc was doing with his hands. “Got something in mind?” he asked casually.

  “Got any slow-go?” Bedivere’s heart sped up as he asked the question. Hope speared his gut.

  The medic’s gaze moved to a spot behind Bedivere. Then he grimaced. “Sorry,” he said.

  Bedivere looked behind him. Chedomir was standing at the back of the room, his
arms crossed, his feet spread. Clearly, he’d killed the request with a shake of his head.

  “Besides,” the medic added, “the last thing you need before a fight is a sedative.” He picked up the scratched board that held a rudimentary medical history—just the details needed to keep Bedivere alive. The medic scanned it and considered him. “I can give you a pain-killer for the cancer, if you like.”

  “Which one?” Bedivere asked dryly.

  “The tumor in the stomach must be troubling you by now.”

  “No pain-killer,” Chedomir declared. “Nothing that will slow him down.”

  Bedivere swallowed his disappointment. He grabbed it and twisted it, morphing it into the anger he would need when he stepped out there. Any minute now. Fights never lasted long.

  Chedomir moved his bulky body closer and dropped his voice. “I have three doses, Killer. You win this fight and two of them are yours. Use your end move to win the fight and you can have all three of them.”

  Black bitterness flooded him, making his vision fade and the roar in his ears leap high enough that he was momentarily deaf to anything else but his hatred for Chedomir, this place and the thing he must do now…although if he did it and if he survived, he knew Chedomir would abide by his word. The doses would be his.

  He despised the hope that flared at the thought.