Aeolus Investigations Set 2: Too Cool To Lose: The Continuing Evolution of Lexi Stevens Read online

  Contents

  Copyright

  Forward

  Gambler, Episode 4

  Copyright

  Chatper 1, Ackalon

  Chapter 2, Briefing Jis

  Chapter 3, Infrastructure Upgrades

  Chapter 4, Mingling

  Chapter 5, Help Wanted

  Chapter 6, The New Job

  Chapter 7, Coronation

  Chapter 8, Storm Winds

  Chapter 9, Sensor Upgrades

  Chapter 10, Intercept

  Chapter 11, Rescue

  Chapter 12, Crashing at Full Burn

  Chapter 13, The News Isn’t Good

  Chapter 14, Defining the Problem

  Chapter 15, Options

  Chapter 16, Dinner

  Chapter 17, Dampeners

  Chapter 18, Techno-Wizardry

  Chapter 19, Penetrating the Base

  Chapter 20, Command Central

  Chapter 21, Secret Agents

  Chapter 22, Team Two

  Chapter 23, Hell Ride

  Chapter 24, The Masters

  Chapter 25, Raider Two

  Chapter 26, Ostrieachia

  Chapter 27, Falling With Style

  Chapter 28, After the Fall

  Chapter 29, One World Council

  Chapter 30, Jis Comes Through

  Chapter 31, Council Matters

  Chapter 32, The Chase

  Chapter 33, Evolution

  Chapter 34, Come Into My Parlor

  Chapter 35, A Quuck Update

  Chapter 36, Chief Minister

  Chapter 37, Jis Boc Seckan

  Chapter 38, Lunch

  Gladiator, Episode 5

  Copyright

  _____ Part 1: Gladiator _______

  Chapter 1, Arena

  Chapter 2, Mortal Combat

  Chapter 3, Meet the Sims

  Chapter 4, Retrospective

  Chapter 5, Goram Interstellar

  Chapter 6, Seekateeki

  Chapter 7, Investigation

  Chapter 8, Super Genius

  Chapter 9, David vs Goliath

  Chapter 10, Interlude

  Chapter 11, Never Forget the Name Enterprise

  Chapter 12, Double Trouble

  Chapter 13, Scotty

  Chapter 14, Dereliction of Duty

  Chapter 15, Pirates, Really?

  Chapter 16, Sunday at the Movies

  Chapter 17, Plan B

  Chapter 18, Spock

  Chapter 19, Checkmate

  _____ Part 2: Marshal ________

  Chapter 20, Honeymoon

  Chapter 21, Point Break

  Chapter 22, Designs by Klendin

  Chapter 23, The Striped Bass

  Chapter 24, July 4th

  Chapter 25, Widow

  Chapter 26, At the Mall

  Chapter 27, Lexi has Fallen in the Well

  Chapter 28, Salvage

  Chapter 29, Urania's Story

  Chapter 30, Awaken Dorothy

  Chapter 31, Species Seventeen

  Chapter 32, Article Seven, Section One

  Chapter 33, Glaurang

  Chapter 34, Amusement Park

  Chapter 35, Klaavaanit

  Chapter 36, Ackalon

  Chapter 37, Borgol

  Chapter 38, Vankovia

  Chapter 39, Medical Examiner

  Chapter 40, Performance Enhancement

  Chapter 41, Surf's up

  _____ Part 3: Killer Queen _____

  Chapter 42, Men in Black

  Chapter 43, Visitors From the Stars

  Chapter 44, First Contact

  Chapter 45, The Short Version

  Chapter 46, Charlie, This is Lexi

  Chapter 47, Briefing

  Chapter 48, The Interesting Stuff

  Chapter 49, Alone at Last

  Chapter 50, Killer Queen

  Chapter 51, Charlie Stevens

  Chapter 52, Violet Stevens

  Chapter 53, Dog and Pony Show

  Chapter 54, Theatrics

  Chapter 55, World Governor

  Chapter 56, Time Flies When You're Saving a World

  Chapter 57, Engineering a Fleet

  Chapter 58, State of the Union Address

  Chapter 59, Problem Solving

  Chapter 60, Tricks of the Trade

  Chapter 61, Grammin

  Chapter 62, Musings on Life

  Chapter 63, Reconnaissance

  Chapter 64, Inside the Hive

  Chapter 65, Retrieving Jis

  Chapter 66, Debriefing Jis

  Chapter 67, Golden Girl

  Chapter 68, Independence Day

  Chapter 69, That Could Work

  Chapter 70, The Wrap

  _____ Part 4: Electra Stevens __

  Chapter 71, An Evening With Electra Stevens

  Chapter 72, Acquiring Glaurang

  Chapter 73, After the Break

  Chapter 74, Family

  Geena's Story, Bonus Feature

  Copyright

  Chapter 1, Introduction

  Chapter 2, The Scene of the Crime

  Chapter 3, Crane Samue

  Chapter 4, Reviewing Ship's Logs

  Chapter 5, Getting Dirty

  Chapter 6, Samue Investigations

  Chapter 7, Starship WA32198389-18-32405

  Chapter 8, The Rose of Light

  Author’s Note

  Books by Bob Colfax

  Too Cool to Lose: The Continuing Evolution of Lexi Stevens

  AEOLUS INVESTIGATIONS

  Episodes 4 and 5

  by

  Robert E Colfax

  Cover art by Dave Kirk

  Published by Robert C Kirk

  Gambler Copyright © 2020 Robert C Kirk, used by permission

  Gladiator Copyright © 2020 Robert C Kirk, used by permission

  Geena’s Story Copyright © 2021 Robert C Kirk, used by permission

  Copyright © 2021 Robert C Kirk

  All rights reserved.

  The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Believe it or not, only fifteen months have elapsed since the formation of Aeolus Investigations. In the first episode of the series, Stowaway, Lexi and the team uncovered a mystical artifact stolen from the Ackalonian’s almost twenty-five years earlier. Episode two, Avenger, sends the team chasing after kidnappers. Their successful conclusion of that second mission leaves several of the Accord worlds in their debt. In episode three, Paladin, they manage to rescue a previously unknown civilization from possible collapse.

  Too Cool to Lose: The Continuing Evolution of Lexi Stevens

  A lighthearted space adventure, with overtones of seriousness.

  Take this opportunity to join Lexi, Ron, Geena, and Urania — the Aeolus Investigations team — in their continuing adventures.

  Gambler (episode five), is the first episode in the To Cool To Lose collection. Gambler picks up only days after the end of Paladin, with the team joining their friend Jis Boc Seckan on Ackalon for her coronation as Plicora of the planet. They barely made it in time to witness the event.

  Due to the length of Gladiator, the fifth episode in the series and the second in this set, there are only the two episodes included. Gladiator, when initially plotted out, was intended as three separate novels. It didn’t work that way. I thi
nk it turned out alright. I hope you agree.

  Taken together, these two episodes, more so than any since Stowaway, determine the course of Lexi’s life.

  You’ll also find Geena’s Story — a short story that relates how Geena meets the man who would one day be Ron’s father.

  February 2021

  Gambler

  Aeolus Investigations (Episode 4)

  Revised November 20, 2020

  by

  Robert E Colfax

  Cover art by Dave Kirk

  Edited by Dee Bullock

  Published by Robert C Kirk

  Copyright © 2020 Robert C Kirk

  All rights reserved.

  The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Chapter 1

  Ackalon

  As Jis Boc Seckan rose from her desk to greet her friends, her first words were, “Lexi, you seem rather angry.” She gave each of them a hug before stepping back, focusing on Lexi. Jis was one of the strongest empaths on her world. She and Lexi Stevens thought of themselves as sisters due to the mental link they shared through the ancient Ackalonian device known as the Rose of Light.

  Jis, as typical of women from Ackalon, was very pale-skinned. Her slender, five-foot-nine frame carried more muscle than most Ackalonian females because she worked hard at it. Today she was in casual-mode, dressed in lounge pants and a t-shirt. She wore her long, platinum-blonde hair in a braid that reached to her lower back.

  Geena Samue, her son Ron Samue, their sentient starship Urania, along with Lexi Stevens comprised the team of insurance investigators known as Aeolus Investigations. Aeolus was the name of a character, actually, several characters, from Earth’s ancient Greek mythology. His job as King of the Winds was to imprison the violent storm winds inside his cavernous floating island of Aeolia until Zeus commanded him to release them to wreak havoc on the mortals. Zeus was never the most compassionate of gods.

  Lexi, the only member of the Aeolus Investigations team native to Earth, came up with the name after she forced a renegotiation of the existing partnership between Geena and Ron, making Urania and her full partners. Practically no one in the interstellar entity known as the Accord, other than her team, had a clue as to the name’s derivation. At any rate, as far as the team was concerned, it was just a cool sounding name, with nothing further implied. Admittedly, the term “havoc” could easily be used to describe much of their last two jobs.

  Now Geena smiled, looking fondly at Lexi as she said, “She’s been a real bitch to live with for the last month. It’s a side effect of a drug she took. At least, we hope that’s all it is. She seems to be getting better. We’ve been letting it slide. After all, she dosed herself with it in order to save all of our lives. The stuff very nearly killed her. I’m afraid the side effects messed her up pretty badly. Do you have time for the story, Jis, or would you just like to hear the key elements?”

  Jis was not only one of their best friends, she also worked with them as part of the team on the Borgol job. At the beginning of that job they hired her as a consultant. By the end, she was an adjunct team member. Working with them opened her eyes to a number of things she took for granted. She was responsible for the new Ackalonian law that allowed them to legally weaponize their starship. Tomorrow, she would become the Plicora, or ruler, of the planet Ackalon, taking over from her father after his many years of service. Lexi, Geena, and Ron barely made it back in time for the ceremonies.

  Again looking at Lexi, and now looking concerned, Jis replied, “My next appointment is not for fifty minutes, and frankly, I can cancel it if I need to. I’d love to have an excuse. I’m supposed to decide on desserts for tonight’s reception. I suspect there must be other people around here who can make that momentous decision without me.” The Residence had been hosting nightly receptions for those off-world guests who arrived early for the last week. With travel times through hyperspace being uncertain as the inevitable turbulence could often add a day or two, people allowed extra time in their schedule. Plus some of her guests doubtless had business to transact. Some just desired time for sightseeing. Maybe some came for the desserts.

  The original plan of the Aeolus team’s included vacationing on Ackalon for the two months preceding the ceremony. That plan was drastically altered when Ron and Geena were forced to abruptly rush off after bounty hunters who kidnapped Lexi. They made it back to Ackalon only six hours ago. In those two months, they managed to destroy a significant pirate base and possibly save an unknown civilization spanning two worlds from complete collapse.

  Ron said, “Well, Jis, I think the most important thing for you to know is that a representative of a space-threading civilization you’ve never heard of will be attending your inauguration. King Ron Samue of Grammin and her colony world of Graplin will be present, in person.” He bowed with a small flourish. In an aside to Lexi, he added, “I bet your friend Pete hasn’t heard about that yet either.”

  Lexi smiled. Pete Isher ran a weapon shop on the Samues’ homeworld of Cardin’s Paradise. In addition to guns and armor, he sold what could best be called spy paraphernalia. Somehow he seemed to have an inside track on information that should have never reached him. Lexi suspected he actually was a retired spy, still plugged into more than one information network. His advice proved helpful in running the types of missions Lexi had been choosing for the Aeolus Investigations team. She agreed with Ron, however. He probably wouldn’t know about the Grammin worlds. They were completely off the grid.

  Ron met Lexi when he and his mother Geena, insurance investigators based out of the world called Cardin’s Paradise, were on Earth searching for the missing Ackalonian Rose of Light. As Lexi said, at six-foot-seven and two-hundred-seventy pounds of muscle, Ron stood out in a crowd. She first ran into him at the campus coffee shop where he worked. Coffee and a hunk, what could be better?

  Unable to locate the stolen artifact and going broke while looking for it, Ron and Geena decided to call it quits. Lexi, knowing none of that, while harboring the misconception that she needed to do something to sidetrack an alien invasion, stowed away on their starship when they packed up and left. A day later, with Lexi now leading the team, they returned to Earth and retrieved the stolen gem. They first met Jis when the Rose was turned over to her father, Ad Boc Seckan, the man serving as Plicora of Ackalon for the last sixty-some years.

  Still smiling, Jis was the most perpetually serene person her friends had ever met, she said, “You know you can’t get away with lying to me, right, Ron? Let me get this straight. You were gone for nine weeks. Just nine weeks. In that time, Lexi took drugs to make her angry. Ron came back as King of an unknown world. Except I have heard of Grammin. It’s supposed to be uninhabited. Did you guys have time to get any sleep?” She shook her head. “I’ve seen reports on the shape you brought poor Urania back in. That much damage is impressive even for Aeolus Investigations. I’m guessing you tangled with pirates again. I think I need the whole story. It sounds like the bounty hunters grabbing Lexi was the small part.”

  It was true their first space battle with pirates resulted in some serious damage to their newly weaponized starship. The thing about that was it would have happened whether or not they were able to fight back. They hadn’t exactly gone out looking to test the new weapons against live targets. Without the weapons, they would most likely all be dead now. The first thing they did once they docked was to arrange with a commercial facility to have repairs made while they were here.

  Jis ordered coffee and what amounted to a cheese and fruit platter for them. While they waited for the food to arrive, Jis again directed her attention toward Lexi. “You do seem different, somehow, Lexi. I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s not just the anger. Frankly, love, that’s been there since Hepca.” On Hepca, they
left over seven-hundred people behind, stranded and on their own, with the team planning to return as soon as possible with a transport ship. The transport left Borgol for Hepca as soon as it could be arranged. Still, it didn’t get there soon enough. The people they promised to rescue were subsequently slaughtered by pirates before the team had time to return. There was no way anyone could have prevented the atrocity. Lexi still took it personally.

  Lexi actually smiled at Jis and thought, Different? Whatever do you mean?

  The surprised look Jis wore turned penetrating for a brief moment before her almost perpetual smile returned. “Telepathy? Now you’re just showing off, Sister.” After a pause, she asked, “Well, who’s narrating?”

  Chapter 2

  Briefing Jis

  With all three of them narrating and an occasional comment from Urania over the comm-gear, they held Jis’s attention for nearly two hours. During that time, someone other than Jis apparently rose to the occasion and decided on desserts for the evening reception. Once the story was complete, Jis looked at Lexi, asking, “So does that make you the queen, love?”

  Lexi smiled. In Jis’s presence the anger she felt burning inside her almost continually these last weeks was fading. Jis was like that. More powerful than the lingering effects of the hulk-meds. She hoped the effect was permanent. She didn’t like being difficult for her friends to live with. “No, not the queen. The king’s mistress? I don’t know. The royal consort, maybe. Let’s stick with Ron’s girlfriend for now. We’ve known each other for a year now, Jis. We agree it’s time we make our pairing official, so to speak. But I want to have my father present when we take vows. I just don’t see that happening anytime soon.”