Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller by Brandon Ellis (best novels to read in english .txt) 📗

“That’s not on today’s menu, Mr. Jaxx. Today, we’re going to investigate how and when you transferred your abilities to Miss Ravenwood.”

“That’s bullshit. I couldn’t move objects with my mind before I got here. I couldn’t have given these ‘powers’, as you call them, to anyone.”

“Though there is the matter of the missing years. The years you don’t remember? The years I believe you worked for the SSP, more likely than not, with Ms. Ravenwood.”

“That would be Pilot First Class Captain Ravenwood, to you.”

“As you wish,” said Donny. He was a smooth asshole when he wanted to be. “Pilot First Class Captain Ravenwood.”

Jaxx narrowed his eyes. “Can’t you just put me under and take me back there. We need answers. Now.”

“Certainly,” said Donny. “You’re going deeper...and deeper...”

Jaxx was out before Donny said another word.

Jaxx sat in his starfighter, parked inside one of Star Warden’s large Star Carrier bays. Dammit. He’d landed back in his memories, but only minutes after he’d steered a rock into a crack in a ship and brought it down. Where was Rivkah? Had she made it back? Where was the rest of his squad?

A knock on his cockpit window jolted him out of his racing thoughts and into the carrier bay. A man stood on a ladder and waved, then knocked again. Jaxx pressed a button and his cockpit window lifted. The man climbed down the ladder, jumping to the bay floor.

Cheering engulfed the bay, people clapping and hollering.

A crackle came over his helmet comm line. It was Rivkah. “I’d like to think I helped out there too. But, this is your day. Enjoy it.”

“How did I do that out there?” Jaxx asked, still sitting in his cockpit, dazed at what he had become in combat.

“That’s what I think everyone will want to know. Get out of your starfighter and celebrate, because tomorrow the enemy will be back. We’ll need you.”

Jaxx stood. It was the applause he’d been waiting for his entire life. If he knew how he had flown with such precision, how he’d merged with his craft, how he moved things with his mind, then he’d be able to walk down the ladder with confidence and embrace the whoops and hollers from his comrades. As it was, he felt like the world’s greatest fraud. What he’d done was a fluke, an anomaly. His legs and arms shook with each step down. He did his best not to faint or lose his grip and fall backward.

He held down his comm tab. “Thank you, Rivkah. I pushed the control stick forward when exiting the launch tube. Your advice saved my life.”

“It did. Now, get to your celebration. Rivkah, out.”

Jaxx touched ground and unstrapped his helmet, placing it under his arm. People slapped him on his back as he walked by, making his way out of the bay and into the Star Carrier’s large lobby. If he could go to his quarters and sleep, he would. Sleep, though, would probably evade him tonight. He imagined the stress and the excitement would be too much for his brain to handle.

Full of people, the lobby buzzed. Crew hastily moved from one place to another, down hallways and into offices. Medical techs ran by Jaxx and down adjacent hallways, heading to the carrier’s stern. But every three or four steps, someone took the time to congratulate him. He was, if they were to be believed, a star, a legend, a damned wizard out there.

“Attention on deck!”

Jaxx turned. The admiral. Jaxx didn’t recognize his face, but his epaulets said it all. A guard walked with the admiral, decked out in armor from head to toe, a large rifle strapped to his back. The guard looked about a foot taller than Jaxx, and Jaxx was above average height.

They halted in front of him. The admiral put his hands behind his back, beaming with the kind of confidence only an admiral could have. “I’m Admiral Gentry Race. Follow me.”

Jaxx straightened his posture. “Yes, Sir.”

Jaxx followed Gentry up a flight of stairs and into a large room with a long meeting table in the middle. A woman in full flight gear sat at the table, hands folded in front of her, her helmet resting on the seat next to her. She was breathtaking and for a second, Jaxx couldn’t take his eyes off her. He knew who she was. She’d broken through his memory barrier, on the other side of time, and made herself known to him. He’d remembered nothing of his time as a pilot, until he was under hypnosis, but she had visited in his room’s mirror, asked for his help. She was someone. She was special. She was Rivkah Ravenwood.

When Rivkah saw the admiral, she stood and saluted.

He gave her a nod and gestured for the large guard to wait outside, then dipped his head at the uniformed man.

“Take a seat,” the admiral ordered.

Jaxx sat, wondering why he’d been led here. He’d never met the admiral, the guy in the uniform. Was he in trouble for some reason? If he was, he wished they’d ship him back home.

Gentry motioned to the woman. “You already know Captain Rivkah Ravenwood.” He sat straighter in his seat, chest out. “Behind me is Captain Richard Fox.”

Fox said nothing.

Jaxx eyed the woman, stunned—Rivkah. Black hair, blue eyes, and light brown skin. “Again, thank you.”

Expressionless, she replied, “No need to thank me. We’re squad mates. It’s what we do.” She brought her attention to Gentry. “Why were we brought here?”

Gentry interlocked his fingers. “I was a starfighter for many years and have been in combat for almost as long. I’ve never seen a pilot fly like Lieutenant Kaden Jaxx here.” He turned to Jaxx. “You did things in your starfighter that defy logic. Your precision in flight, extraordinary, your accuracy, for the record books.” He cleared his throat. “I watched you on the vid screen once Captain Fox alerted me that one of our starfighters executed extraordinary feats. It seemed that debris around you