In Good Company (Stardancer Book 6)

Trust Your peers....
...unless, of course, one of them is a rogue flouting Fleet's already lax regulations. But stowaways are the least of the Stardancer's issues when they are assigned to investigate a mysterious area of space at the behest of an alien allied power. What will the Stardancer find in the depths of the Sargasso? And will it give them reason to dedicate themselves to Fleet's military mission, as their captain hopes, or to decide that defending the Alliance is someone else's responsibility?

In Good Company, the sixth Alysha Forrest novel, returns to deep space and the adventure of finding new worlds and new discoveries. And if there might be an AI or two… what's the Alliance without its many peoples?

Genre (setting): space opera (Pelted)
Tags: culture clash, AIs, aliens, space exploration, teamwork, furries
Rating: PG for violence

Excerpt from Chapter 1

“The Sargasso,” Alysha said, frowning as she scanned their orders.

“Really?” Taylitha said. “Now? Why?”

“Ours not to question why,” Laelkii drawled, and then paused. “So, what’s a Sargasso and why are you shocked we’re heading there?”

“You mean Tory hasn’t filled your head with stories about the Sargasso yet?”

“Tory,” Laelkii said, “likes submarine books. Submarines, I’ll have you know, go under seas, and therefore they don’t concern themselves much with their topography.” She lifted her nose and sniffed. “That being the point of submarines.”

Taylitha eyed her, then pointed at her with the hand holding her mug of coffee. “You do that on purpose.”

Laelkii batted her lashes. “Of course I do.”

‘Star cleared her throat. “The Sargasso,” she said, “as distinct from the human one on Terra, is the area coreward of neutral space.”

The healer’s daffy expression dropped from her face like a mask, which was fair, Alysha thought, as it was one. “On the other side of neutral space? Why are they sending us all the way out there? I thought the point of neutral space was that none of us claim it, so… shouldn’t we be doing something useful in the Alliance? Like policing a border that actually matters to us?”

“Or chasing pirates we happen to know are using this sector for transshipping,” Taylitha muttered. “I mean, we’re already here, since the beachhead was able to handle our repairs after all.”

“All good questions,” ‘Star said. “Our orders are not forthcoming on the reasons. They direct us to head to the other side of neutral space and help with mapping.”

“And?” Alysha looked up from her tablet. When ‘Star turned to her, Alysha smiled and waited, letting her brows rise, just a touch.

“I may have made some inquiries,” ‘Star admitted. “There are rumors that it was a request from an allied power.”

“Who’s all the way out there, though?” Taylitha asked and then said, “Oh… oh, the Faulfenza, right?”

“Correct.”

“The Faulfenza want our help mapping the area near their homeworld?” Taylitha frowned, playing with the handle of her mug absently. “Really? And for that Fleet’s going to send us to the other end of nowhere?”

“Why us?” Laelkii added. “What did we do to deserve exile?”

“It is not considered an exile,” ‘Star said. “In fact, if the contextual clues are to be believed, we’ve been chosen because of our exemplary record. The past few months have been… notable.”

“You could say that,” Laelkii said. “’Notable.’ Is that what they call being shot up by multiple parties, getting lost in alien oceans, punching holes in space stations.…”

“No,” ‘Star conceded. “It is what they call ‘superior demonstration of conflict resolution skills, military instincts, and proven expertise in first contact.’”

“What!” Taylitha yelped.

“Did they really say that?” Alysha asked, brows raised.

“They did, yes,” ‘Star said. “Most Fleet battlecruisers don’t have the succession of… spectacular… events that we have in the past few months. Many spend years without incident, undertaking routine mapping and buoy servicing missions.”

Taylitha rolled her eyes. “And somehow not falling into the kind of excitement we seem to when we try anything routine.”

“Still, it’s odd that the Faulfenza haven’t done all the necessary mapping around their space themselves, isn’t it?” Laelkii said.

“Space is big,” Taylitha said. “Maybe they haven’t gotten around to it and need additional coverage.”

“But one extra ship?”

“Test run?” Taylitha suggested. “They want to see how well joint ops work out before asking for more?”

“Do we know?” Alysha asked, and ‘Star shook her head. “We should find out, then.”

‘Star made a note on her tablet.

“Maybe we should ask if they want to come along,” Laelkii added, and everyone looked at her. She held up her hands, palm up. “What? It’s their space, or near their space. If they asked for us, maybe they’d like to send an observer?”

“Not a bad idea,” Alysha said. “That’s mine to do, though.”

“Technically we don’t know they requested our aid,” ‘Star murmured.

Alysha chuckled. “That’s fine. They’ll be expecting us to do our due diligence. If I just ‘know’, they’re more likely to pat me on the back than rap me on the wrist.”

“All right, sir. I’ll have the relevant information forwarded to your tag.”

“Thank you.” Alysha frowned. “The Sargasso… we might want to take on additional supplies before we trek over there. Alpha’s the closest starbase between us and our destination, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“They’re giving us plenty of time to get there, too. Let’s schedule a layover at Alpha on our way out, pick up a few odds and ends. Taylitha, are we low on anything in particular?”

Taylitha’s eyes narrowed. “No. We topped up when we did repairs after Gledig, and our adventures after didn’t make any unusual demands. It wouldn’t be bad to fill up on a few specials, if we’re going to be out for a while. Give the girls some extra entertainment. Especially if it’s going to be a mapping mission. That’s what it sounds like, anyway. Am I wrong?”

“Barring any new adventures,” ‘Star said, with a slight emphasis on the last two words, “our mission is, indeed, mapping.”

“More mapping,” Laelkii groaned.

“We might have more adventures?” ‘Star offered.

“More adventures!” Laelkii exclaimed, covering her eyes with a hand.

“Can’t please some people,” Taylitha observed, grinning, and ducked Laelkii’s half-hearted swipe.