SF Books by Vaughn Heppner

  LOST STARSHIP SERIES:

  The Lost Starship

  The Lost Command

  The Lost Destroyer

  The Lost Colony

  The Lost Patrol

  The Lost Planet

  The Lost Earth

  The Lost Artifact

  The Lost Star Gate

  The Lost Supernova

  The Lost Swarm

  The Lost Intelligence

  The Lost Tech

  The Lost Secret

  The Lost Barrier

  The Lost Nebula

  The Lost Relic

  The Lost Task Force

  The Lost Clone

  The Lost Portal

  THE A.I. SERIES:

  A.I. Destroyer

  The A.I. Gene

  A.I. Assault

  A.I. Battle Station

  A.I. Battle Fleet

  A.I. Void Ship

  A.I. Rescue

  A.I. Armada

  Visit VaughnHeppner.com for more information

  The Lost Portal

  (Lost Starship Series 20)

  Vaughn Heppner

  Illustration © Tom Edwards

  TomEdwardsDesign.com

  Copyright © 2023 by the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.

  -1-

  NEW MEN EMPIRE ARCHIVES

  SEVERAL YEARS AGO:

  October 15

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  There has been a new development. When could I address you in private?

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  Come to me after the blood games are finished.

  October 18

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  I have considered your proposal and studied the projected growth charts. We do need more women if we hope to jumpstart our empire with a serious and sustained population explosion. The Commonwealth of Planets swarms with inferior breeds in truly staggering numbers. That has always been their sole advantage against us, and it has been a powerful one. I have come to believe that we have underestimated the strength of sheer numbers.

  I am determined to rectify the error. Why should the inferior breeds thrive when superior men already exist?

  With that said, I am disinclined to scour the outlying star systems independent of the Commonwealth as you suggested. True, we could conquer the independent systems with ease and take their women. That, however, would alert the higher echelons of Star Watch and might create negative to catastrophic relations with the Commonwealth.

  The Empire is not ready for another war. The next conflict against Star Watch must be our last as we crush them out of existence.

  That means time. I still foresee a buildup of thirty to possibly forty years before we do this. During that period, we must continue to expand at an exponential rate, claiming and conquering ever more virgin planets for the Empire.

  That means we need numbers, masses of New Men and Women to seed and hold what we have taken.

  For that, we need more women now, even if they are of inferior breeding stock, so we can increase our numbers with ever-greater speed and gravidity. Our genetic plans will improve such inferior offspring through selective breeding and advanced biological manipulation.

  For now, we will leave untouched the independent star systems. We will let them grow in peace as a ruse.

  Instead, to explode our numbers, I desire a large-scale clandestine supply of females from a different source. I foresee an enormous and shadowy abduction campaign inside the Commonwealth, draining them as we build our populations with nubile females from the premen and impregnate them with our superior seed.

  October 19

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  What a noble plan, Sire. I applaud your wisdom in devising it. I do foresee possible complications, however. Such mass abductions inside the Commonwealth could act as a tripwire, causing military action from Star Watch in retaliation before we’re ready.

  The premen seem abnormally attached to their women, acting with outrage when we pluck their wives and daughters for our superior use.

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  Your views on the premen are spot on.

  That is why I desire you to head up the abduction operation. It will dovetail perfectly with your espionage efforts in the Commonwealth.

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  I am grateful that Your Majesty deems me worthy to take on such a vast and potentially hazardous project. However, as loath as I am to point this out, the operation will likely hinder instead of “dovetail” with the intelligence operations presently taking place within the Commonwealth.

  What I mean, Your Majesty, is this program could cause unforeseen trouble for the Empire, trouble that we might possibly sidestep by delaying the start of an abduction campaign.

  October 20

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  This is precisely the sort of operation the head of Intelligence should oversee. The Empire needs a deft touch in this for a number of reasons, a few that you have already pointed out.

  We need to increase our numbers exponentially now.

  However, if you feel yourself enfeebled by your previous tasks, please inform me immediately so I can find your replacement. The Empire demands New Men of quality in the most hazardous posts.

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  Your Majesty, perhaps you misunderstood my hesitation in accepting this new post. I will not bore you with the details of my qualms. Upon further reflection, I see exactly what you mean. You are right, now is the time to collect more birthing females.

  Know, Sire, that I am your enthusiastic extension of purpose and will.

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  Get started immediately. Talk to Strand on the gradations of female qualities. We don’t simply want numbers; we want the best.

  October 28

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from METHUSELAH MAN STRAND

  Enclosed is the chart on the breakdown of the female genetic distinctions or grades that you requested and the processes to determine each. Grade A is the best, obviously. Beauty, health, and intelligence are the primary requisites, in that order. At the other end of the spectrum, you could refer to Grade E specimens as hags: ugly, stupid, old (infertile) women. The other categories fall between these two extremes.

  Click to observe.

  Grade A: See Appendix A

  Grade B: See Appendix B

  Grade C: See Appendix C

  Grade D: See Appendix D

  Grade E: See Appendix E

  NINE MONTHS AGO

  November 3

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  How can I describe the horror of what I’m seeing? Strand informed me what has happened and shown me endless examples. I’m furious that you did not see fit to tell me that thirty-six percent of the women abducted from the Commonwealth are Grade E hags.

  The next highest grade, D, is twenty-nine percent in volume. That is sixty-five percent of inferior genetic stock.

  Do you think we should build an empire of morons and rejects? Come, Archduke, let me hear your thoughts. Don’t be shy.

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  Several of my subordinates have failed me miserably. Two have already died in an agony booth normally reserved for stubborn premen. I am making a thorough and in-house inspection of the abduction arm of Empire Intelligence.

  November 4

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  Perhaps instead of trusting to dull-witted subordinates, it is time you went out into the field to look for yourself. A hands-on approach seems like the perfect solution. Or am I wrong?

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  Your Majesty, I have refrained from clandestinely entering the Commonwealth so that Star Watch Intelligence has zero chance of capturing me and using me for their insidious projects.

  November 5

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  Let me state this plainly, so there are no further misunderstandings. Get off your lazy ass. Get out there. You are a New Man, not a trembling preman. You risk and dare anything against anyone in the interests of the Empire.

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  I have begun to prepare for my trip. In the meantime, I am setting up new teams of abductors with an eye toward Grade A captures instead of mere volume.

  November 6

  To ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma, from EMPEROR TRAHEY

  Inform me when you’ve collected a harem of Grade A females.
I want to inspect them personally.

  TWO MONTHS AGO

  June 2

  To EMPEROR TRAHEY, from ARTAXERXES PAR, Archduke of Starshade Sigma

  Your Majesty, there is an exciting prospect of a slew of superior females, Grade AA, I would say. I am off to the Commonwealth to ensure success. The next time I address you, Sire, I shall have a bevy of beauties with me for your private inspection or I shall be dead.

  -2-

  Lady Margaret Wold of Wind Haven Farms was a vivacious young woman of nineteen. She had long blonde hair, an athletic build that was more slender than robust, with smaller breasts and narrower hips, and an open beauty that captured nearly everyone’s attention.

  She was the darling of a large, extended family, her father the Earl of Wind Haven Farms and her mother from a smaller clan in the mountainous regions of the planet.

  The planet was Arius III, a mostly rugged world filled with mining and valley farming communities. The one main city was Arrival Spaceport, 954 kilometers from the manor of Wind Haven Farms.

  Lady Margaret’s father was one of the three most important nobles in the Kingdom of Arius.

  Out here on the fringes of the Commonwealth, near the Beyond and the hidden Empire of the New Men, life was rugged. The colonists had little time for votes or voting, but needed everything to work hard.

  The king and his nobles provided security through their armed retainers. Star Watch vessels occasionally came through the system, orbiting Arius III. Star Watch meant the young kingdom didn’t need to spend what little money they had on space defenses.

  The Commonwealth had expanded throughout the years using such planetary governing systems, growing at an appreciable rate and to an already impressive size.

  Perhaps life was on the harder side on Arius III, but it was open and honest. Most of the people felt they were building something better for the future.

  If a younger son or daughter truly felt they had to get away, most went to the neighboring Cestus System, 15.723 light years away. It had far greater urban development and, surprisingly, a more autocratic government. A few people from Arius had gone farther yet, enlisting in Star Watch.

  Young Lady Margaret Wold of Wind Haven Farms didn’t think much about these things. She helped her mother and aunts most of the time or quarreled in a good-natured way with her brothers, sisters and many cousins.

  The main manor held twenty-eight buildings, many of them connected, nine barns and twelve grain-elevators.

  A retinue of fifty retainers riding cross-country motorcycles and off-road vehicles made sure no outlaws tried a quick raid on the manor or its outlying farmsteads.

  In a pinch, the earl could summon the rest of the men of his huge fiefdom. Every man connected to Wind Haven Farms carried hunting-level firearms or had quick access to them.

  Lady Margaret had worked hard and happily in the kitchens, sewing rooms and garment houses since turning twelve. She loved to hike and particularly loved good old-fashioned poetry of knights and fair maidens from Earth’s Pre-Space Age.

  Margaret had taken a number of self-defense classes and could shoot well enough to bring wild game to the kitchen pot if she had to. Mostly, she left the hunting to her brothers and boy cousins.

  A week ago, a young sportsman from Cestus IV had passed through the earldom with older, seasoned hunters. They were on their way to the Klondike Mountains to hunt a creature akin to the Earth snow leopard, the yellow larl. The youth, a tall, square-jawed, muscular fellow by the name of Clint Seasons, had paid Margaret extra attention for the two days he had spent at the manor.

  Clint Seasons was so damn good-looking, so much like a knight with his short-cut, black hair, (Margaret believed) that she had fallen instantly…infatuated with him.

  Lady Margaret was a cheery and outgoing young woman. She might have said that she was in love with Clint, but she was too intelligent and too filled with Arius good sense to believe that. Margaret had a core of hard-headedness that most people missed because of her open, laughing beauty, mischievous eyes and most kissable mouth.

  In any case, Clint Seasons had called yesterday. Margaret had spoken to him via a vid-phone in the game room of the central mansion. Three of her cousins were playing billiards in the background. On the vid-phone, Clint had shown her the trophy kill he’d made, a big male larl. Margaret had clapped her hands with delight. The beast’s head was as big as Clint’s.

  “Can I see you tomorrow?” Clint asked suddenly.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Margaret said.

  Fifteen feet away, a cue ball cracked against the eight ball. A cousin laughed, having just won.

  “My father won’t be home tomorrow,” Margaret said. “He doesn’t like me to—”

  “Say no more,” Clint said, interrupting. “I respect your father’s authority and wishes. That’s too bad, though. I was hoping to get his advice on the next place to hunt. What he told me when we were there last was exactly what I needed to make this kill.”

  “Would the other hunters be with you?”

  “No. I’m afraid not. It would be too far out of the way for them. I’d come by on my air cycle, you see.”

  “You have one?” Margaret asked, her eyes shining. She’d seen them on the vid, but never in person.

  Clint grinned arrogantly, nodding.

  “I’ve always wanted to ride one,” Margaret said wistfully.

  “I’ll fly by tomorrow then. I can at least wave to you from the air and do a few acrobatic maneuvers before I jet away.”

  “Yes,” Margaret said. “But if you do that, I’ll insist you land and take a meal with us.”

  Clint laughed. It had a rough, predatory quality. Margaret imagined knights of old had laughed like that.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, beauty queen.”

  Before Margaret could respond, Clint cut the connection.

  Margaret thought his actions and words were impudent, but in a good, bold way. She laughed, excited to see him again. It should be all right. Her mother was home and half the retainers. It wasn’t as if Clint Seasons was a ruffian or outlaw. He was a sportsman from Cestus IV. The idea of seeing him was even better than seeing one of those air cycles.

  Margaret forgot to tell her mother, as her mother had funny ideas regarding such things. Later at night in bed, Margaret found it hard to fall asleep. She kept remembering something sharp and admiring in Clint’s dark eyes. He was manly and charming, and he looked so magnificently fine. What if he tried to kiss her?

  In the morning, Margaret was more tired than usual, as she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. But that soon changed as she went about her chores.

  She waited in anticipation all morning, but Clint didn’t show.

  “You’re hardly eating your food, dear,” mother said, an older blonde beauty, more robust and busty than Margaret.

  They sat with others at the large noon table.

  Margaret forced herself to eat some berries. She was miffed with Clint. She was so miffed that she didn’t say anything about it to anyone.

  Later, around two, mother went on a field inspection, taking twelve retainers with her. That left another twelve on the extended farm.

  Around three in the afternoon, a shiny silver air cycle came down with a roar. The pilot risked being attacked by an automatic SAM (Surface to Air Missile). They might be backward out here on the frontier, but they had defensive equipment nonetheless.

  Luckily, Margaret ran to the defense shed in time to tell them Clint Seasons from Cestus IV was up there. She’d given him permission to land.

  After a brief, almost nonexistent standoff, Clint came down, causing a swirl of dust. With a booted foot, he kicked out a stand, tilted the air cycle and jumped off. He wore dark leathers and a helmet, with a large hunting knife belted at his side.

  The silver air cycle was stylish and seemed dangerous, and quite exciting.