Broken Earth Read online

  Broken Earth

  S.J. Sanders

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Other Works by S.J. Sanders

  About the Author

  Broken Earth

  Argurma Salvager Book 1

  A Cybernetic Alien Romance

  S.J. Sanders

  ©2020 by Samantha Sanders

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission granted in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction intended for adult audiences only.

  Cover: Sam Griffin

  1

  A blue-green planet filled the viewscreen. Dawn was just breaking over the horizon and the planet’s face was largely concealed in darkness, without the clusters of light that came with advanced civilization. Despite the aged fragments of satellites that orbited the planet, there was no indication from the ship’s sensors that any of the indigenous civilizations remained, or that sentient life lingered after their fall.

  All signs pointed to decay… and wealth for an enterprising salvager.

  The sole occupant of the ship watched the viewscreen stoically as his vessel analyzed the information from the small probe ejected into the stratosphere. His cybernetics streamed the data directly from the core systems as he interpreted the transmissions, and data scrolled across his left visual receptor.

  One long, pointed ear twitched, betraying his interest.

  The chemical composition of the atmosphere was suitable for sustaining Argurma lifeforms, although the gravitational pull would be less intense than on Argurumal. His systems automatically calibrated for ideal mobility as he narrowed his eyes on the planet that grew larger at his approach. Scans detected valuable minerals and metals for optimal scavenging potential. The male trilled low in his throat with anticipation.

  Turning from the viewscreen, Veral’monushava’skahalur commanded his chair into the pilot station. With a click in his throat, he issued a command that summoned his hunting dorashnal. Krono glided up on six paws, taking his place at Veral’s feet. The dorashnal’s glossy black scales reflected the low light from the viewscreen as the six prehensile vibrissae surrounding his head flared in a relaxed manner. One twined around Veral’s hand as he patted the beast. Though there wasn’t so much as a flicker in his flat expression, he felt a deep fondness for it. Despite knowing that such attachments were foolish, he was bonded with his dorashnal like every Argurma.

  Since his adolescence, when he received the first of his cybernetic implants at the first sign of his sexual maturation, he’d had few attachments. His ship and his dorashnal, who had been his companion since they were pups together, were all that mattered in his world.

  That and the driving desire to accumulate credits to see to his upgrades and needs.

  Veral did not adhere to the illogical behavioral codes upheld by his race. Nor did he give any of his attention to the bonds of loyalty that so many felt toward their world. Such attachments exploited a weakness that he refused to possess, one that was fundamentally dangerous as far as he computed. He’d disabled that coding the moment he discovered it many solars ago. Even now, he regularly sent his nanocybernetics through his systems to look for any sign of the homeworld infiltrating his coding to renew their hold on him.

  Veral’monushava’skahalur belonged no one.

  Instead of serving as a warrior in the planetary armed forces or as an assassin hunter for the Council of Twelve, he’d devoted solars to establishing his reputation not only as a ruthless fighter but an unparalleled salvager among the Intergalactic Federation. Moments like these always brought him many credits from the contacts he’d made.

  As Veral settled back into his seat and initiated the landing sequence, his glowing blue orbs narrowed with satisfaction. There were many who would give him great wealth for even a fraction of what he detected on the planet surface. It was a shame that his ship was not equipped to transport live animals. The life signs of numerous species made him curse his short-sightedness. The creatures would have been profitable.

  He tapped one of his three thick, heavily scaled fingers on the console beside him as the planet steadily filled the viewscreen. His long, dark claw clicked a tempo on the metal as his systems targeted one of the crumbling cities in the interior of the landmass with low humidity. Argurumal was a planet of rolling sands, where water was contained in deep replenishing wells within the ground. He found planets with high water ratios to be disconcerting at best. He preferred to stay away from them when possible.

  The ship rumbled and jerked as it dropped through the atmosphere, heat searing the sides of the vessel. The viewscreen was dark during this phase of descent, leaving him blind save for what the ship’s monitors told him via his constant connection with them. Still, when at last the viewscreen snapped open, he couldn’t resist a smile.

  Descending among vivid rocky inclines of brilliant hues, Veral marveled at the topography of the region. The rising sun dyed the rocks impressive shades of orange and red, stretching out to great distances from all sides. Just ahead, he could see the sprawl of what must have once been a city.

  Although he was tempted to land within the city for his convenience, experience had taught him the hard lesson of keeping his ship concealed outside of his work area. He didn’t need any of the indigenous wildlife getting curious about his ship. Memories of the mandra swarm on SerHava that followed him to his ship each night, attacking with stingers and claws, served as a reminder. He wasn’t interested in a repeat performance and, given how seriously they’d compromised his ship, he couldn’t afford to take damage so far away from any outposts.

  This part of the universe was an outlying area that few were willing to expend credits and fuel to explore. Sometimes pirates came into the Dark Zone to avoid detection and made it their home, but he doubted even pirates had been this far into this sector. They wouldn’t waste their precious fuel crystals for anything outside of subverting intergalactic patrols—what little there were. As he began the landing sequence, he shook his head at the thought of how many delixar crystals he’d fed into his engine.

  Not that it mattered now. It was too late to recalculate another route outside of the Dark Zone. He’d already traveled far beyond the marked boundaries, and this was the first salvageable planet he’d come across since entering. He had put a massive amount of his saved credits into stored fuel. If the trip wasn’t as profitable as he’d hoped, he had plenty of fuel to explore several more planets before he would need to return to Federation space. Still, his calculations told him that he was on the mark for this planet.

  With an ease that came from numerous landings, Veral directed his ship away from the gray metal and broken stone of the ruins as the landing systems engaged. The blocky, rough buildings looked more primitive than what he typically found in his line of work. He shifted his weight with the vessel as it rocked and settled on the uneven ground. The hiss of its landing gears
decompressing sounded too loud in the silence of the navigation center. Locking his flight grid and all controls, Veral rose to his feet and descended to the lower level of his ship.

  At his approach, the shell door hissed as it depressurized and slid up into its frame. A narrow metal platform immediately extended the short distance to reddish sand below. Fine grains scattered inside with a hot breeze, prompting him to close the thin membranes of his secondary lids to protect his eyes.

  His eyes weren’t the only thing assaulted. Veral’s senses were overwhelmed by the scents of unfamiliar flora, decay, and the mineral bite of sun-warmed sand. His cybernetic memory banks cataloged everything he saw for analysis later as he made his first steps on the new world.

  Aside from a large amount of rock and sand, small green plants clung stubbornly to life, not unlike the low, reddish shrubs of his home planet and yet their shape was unlike anything he’d seen. Bending down, he grabbed ahold of a small plant and gave it a hard yank, breaking free a small sprig that he slid into a sample vial.

  A small, bright-colored creature with a long, thin tail scurried out from a rock in search of shelter elsewhere. He watched curiously as Krono darted out after the tiny animal.

  The dorashnal’s tail whipped around him as he sniffed the ground with interest and growled a series of rattling clicks. Veral stood once more to his full height and ignored the beast. Krono was often distracted by odd fauna, but he would alert him to a threat without delay. His processors observed another small animal—this time brown—scurrying over the sand seconds before Krono took off after it and promptly dismissed it. He did, however, make note of valuable food sources present as he proceeded toward the ruins.

  The buildings, he discovered, although in early states of decay, were still functional enough to offer respite from the heat of the sun as it climbed higher in the sky. While many buildings had nothing more than metal skeletons remaining, he noted that the lower floors were often structurally intact to some degree. Many places had entire walls missing but seemed otherwise untouched, yet in lower, exposed openings, he could see where the sand was beginning to accumulate and drift further inside.

  It seemed that no matter where he was, the desert was universally eager to devour everything from the most common to the sacrosanct.

  One building he passed drew his attention, its colored glass set in its windows with images of odd, smooth beings staring serenely. He cocked his head and regarded it with silent calculation. It appeared quite different than the other buildings around it and it piqued his curiosity. Veral peered at the edges of the frame to see how he might be able to remove the glasswork. He knew a collector on his homeworld who would slaver over such rare art. Argurmas had a love for glass and there were clans who specialized in glasswork. Alien glass samples of such quality would be highly prized. He had no doubt that many would flock to an offworld auction for an opportunity to acquire it.

  As he scanned the glass, movement within the building caught his eye. Long-tailed insects possessing noticeable stingers scrambled over the rocks and sand inside the building. As he watched them crawl over the sand, he saw the flash of reflected light off the eyes of a small, dull-colored predator that crouched near an upturned slab of wood from the floor. He smiled grimly at them. He wanted to see more of the city before he started collecting, but he would be back even if the place was swarming with small predators.

  If they attempted to bite him, they would soon discover that he bites back.

  Veral continued examining the buildings as he made his way down the road. Most of them were barren of anything except for primitive computing units and a small selection of furniture, if any at all. These did not appear to be dwellings but were likely once used for industry or socializing. While these places could, at times, prove profitable—such as in the case of the computing units which could be stripped down for metals—the easiest sources were always residential areas where sentient beings collected property. That was what he was searching for. Certainly not broken windows with ragged textiles and buildings yawning with wide, empty spaces. There was, however, a promising handful of places that seemed to have once sold primitive technology. He made note of each of them.

  One particular shop had numerous mounted screens, and although they were cracked and damaged, he grinned in anticipation of pulling them apart. This trip was going to be far more profitable than he’d imagined! He was still smiling as he left, but his smile fell when his eyes landed on a strange fresh marking on the side of the building. Crouching down so that he was eye level with it, he ran a finger over it and lifted his hand up, rubbing his fingers together. The pigment was dry. No one had come upon him with him unaware of their presence and yet it still had the sharp scent of new pigment. The mark itself was odd and crude in appearance. Perhaps it is from a species possessing enough intelligence to utilize low-tech weapons and tools. That wasn’t unusual to find among animals. All the same, he considered it prudent to be cautious from that point on.

  Where Veral was vigilant, Krono seemed unconcerned. He’d long caught and consumed the furry animal and was investigating every crumbling alley for more prey. This prompted numerous little creatures that Veral surmised to be rodents to scurry out of their hiding places in a manner that disgusted him. After the third time, he impatiently summoned Krono to his side as they ventured farther into the heart of the city. Krono kept an eager pace, and Veral’s exploration remained uneventful despite his unease. As the day wore on, he felt increasing discomfort until the moment he entered a residential zone and breathed in the astringent flavor of woodsmoke on the air.

  Veral stopped in the middle of the road, his head turning as he attempted to pinpoint the direction it was coming from. The smell of salted fat left out in the sun also scented the air beneath the odor of smoke. Its foul perfume turned his stomach. While he’d been able to dismiss the markings as something created without logical reason by primitive beings, the scent of fire, grease, and burning flesh ran contrary to his original hypothesis.

  These were the lingering remnants of what he’d assumed to be an extinct species. Not that they were likely to last long before those remaining few died out. The probability of the indigenous species posing any possible threat to him was so minimal that it was almost amusing to entertain thoughts of a rogue assault against him.

  He looked around, but when no threat made itself known, Veral retrieved a disc from his belt and placed it on the ground to activate it. The disc wobbled and then erupted into metal pieces that folded out until they slid together and formed a basic salvage collector cart. He took a step and watched as it followed behind him as it was designed to do. Most beings had to get implants, but he merely updated his processors to include the lure codes for the device. Satisfied that the cart was working properly, he plundered the first houses he came across. He stripped salvageable electronic parts for their metals, retrieving a few gems from dust-lined containers that he pulled out from the grimy wooden cubes with little effort. His nasal ridges immediately pinched to protect his sensitive olfactory cavity from any spores that may rise into the air with the dust motes that billowed around him.

  As the afternoon wore on, Veral accumulated scrap at a satisfyingly regular pace. After the second dwelling, he found it necessary to deploy another collector cart. Both trailed behind him as he progressed through the residential district. There was little noise to distract him from his task other than the sounds of small animals running for cover at his invasion into their space.

  That was until the sound of a small engine caught his attention. Veral paused to listen to it. His processors worked in an attempt to identify the sound and narrow down its direction. He chuckled to himself when he realized what it was. He was hardly concerned with who might be piloting it—they were no match for him. Instead, he was elated at the unmistakable sound of a small engine.

  A primitive working engine could be highly profitable. It sounded rough and unstable, but that mattered little to him. He did not want i
t for everyday use. Unfortunately, the noise receded before he could get a lock on it. Veral’s mouth twisted into a frown, his good humor evaporating as the object of his interest eluded him.

  His vibrissae buzzed around him with irritation as he stepped around a building, the short mandibles of his jaw distorting to reflect his ill humor. He turned his head to call Krono when a smooth club struck him on the side of his head. White light shot through his vision and he roared, the sound nearly drowned out by a terrified scream.

  Veral spun around, his vibrissae whirling and snapping in a frenzy as he searched for his attacker. The dorashnal snarled and would have rushed forward to attack, but Veral stopped him with a single command.

  He wanted to take this blood himself.

  He felt a rush through his systems of unmistakable excitement for battle. His enemy wouldn’t be much of a challenge, but he was curious what this planet had to offer.

  A small pale alien like the one he’d seen in the glass faced him. It didn’t have scales, vibrissae, or any manner of external protection except a long, useless mane of soft filaments. It looked up at him with wide eyes as it gripped an insignificant, smooth club in its hands, swinging it with a bravado that was almost admirable even though its pale blue irises were ringed with white in a manner that he suspected betrayed its terror. His chest expanded, his muscles stretching in a demonstration of his power. As anticipated, it backed away from him. He snarled threateningly down at it.