Doomstar Relic: Book Summary
Two people from Ragnarville are deep in the Alaskan wilderness. One is a Magistrate named Barch, the other an Archivist named Berrier. They are searching for Redoubt Zulu. Something hidden deep inside the redoubt that was the original home of Lori Quint nearly a century before has something to do with a predark program known as HAARP. Something to do with weather and mind control.
The archivist, Berrier found and approached Barch with the data on Zulu about a month before the novel begins. It was just one event in their year long history together.
The redoubt was cleaned out many years before, but the section housing the HAARP array remained locked. Berrier uses a Syn to open it. The room is well below zero and in the fog they find the corpse of a woman who was wet wired into the computer control. Entering also activates the computer system which produces a beautiful naked hologram who introduces herself as Tara. They ask the hologram to assist in their learning of it's abilities. It complies.
Three weeks later find Kane and Beth Li about two hundred miles west of the ruins of New Orleans. Kane is just outside a ville named boomtown. He has an encounter with a group of swampies who know exactly who he is. They tell him a group of Magistrates showed them his and the others pictures and offered a huge reward for information leading to the capture of the renegades.
He wants the swampies to tell the magistrates that he and his fellow exiles are living in the ville of Boomtown. But, the mutants are greedy and would rather get a bigger reward for killing the renegade Magistrate. A fight breaks out and Kane shoots two of the swampies. To his horror, they get up from what should have been killing blows.
Kane races through the swamps to make it back to redoubt Delta. This redoubt is also known as redoubt 47. Beth Li is inside the redoubt spreading muck and garbage around, making it look like people had been living there for quite a while.
It turns out that Grant, Brigid and Domi are in Minnesota, making another redoubt appear as if it too had been recently occupied.
After killing another swampie, Kane is captured by a mutated swamp plant. He slips out of it's deadly clutches and suckers the swampies into it's embrace. The plant eagerly attacks the new prey and kane makes his way back to the redoubt. He meets with Beth Li Rouche and they jump back to Cerberus.
Baron Ragnar is asleep in his quarters when the hologram of Tara appears at the foot of his bed. It turns out that Ragnar is very different from the other barons as he enjoys the carnal pleasures of sexual intercourse, even if he isn't quite equipped for the deed.
He makes the mistake of thinking that his servants sent the beautiful, naked, and bald woman to him. She announces her intention to kill him. The baron panics and tries to shoot her with a sin eater. She casually kills him, and then a guard, and leaves.
Royce, head of the Magistrates, is ordered to Alpha level. He and his men encounter Tara, demanding that she give up. The hologram ignores them completely, even when they fire upon her. She walks right through a wall to the gateway located behind it.
The magistrate Royce forces on of the baron's personal staff members to take him where the woman disappeared. He sees the gateway for the first time as Barch returns from Redoubt Zulu. The man doesn't seem at all surprised, nor shaken at the news of the death of the baron.
Brigid, Domi and Grant are making the Minnesota redoubt appear to have been occupied. It’s the same redoubt where Ryan Cawdor had found Mildred many years before. This redoubt is designated as Tango.
As they are going to check the outside, they spot a trio of Magistrates sent from Ragnarville, entering the redoubt. They all head back to the gateway to make a jump out. The code is entered and they wait to jump. For some reason it fails.
Back in Cerberus Lakesh is getting on Bry's nerves by constantly asking the status of the others. They did register the arrival and departure at redoubt Zulu a month before, and it's recent activation.
Bank's arrives in a panic, telling Lakesh that something is very wrong with Balam. It turns out that the Archon is rejecting his nutrient bath and that he seems to be having a fit. Lakesh heads back to the prison with Banks to see for himself. When he enters the room he is mentally hit with a wave of sickness emanating from Balam. Then as suddenly as it started, it stops.
And at this time two jumps from different gateways try to arrive at Cerberus at the same time. Kane and Beth Li Rouch arrive safe and sound, while Grant, Brigid and Domi are foreced to stay behind at the other gateway for twenty minutes.
Back in Tango Grant can see that the pointman is obviously distressed. Grant kills him with a single shot to the heart. The other Magistrates hold back firing until they finally get the courage to charge. As they charge they accuse the group of being the assassins who killed the baron.
This news surprises them all. The twenty minutes pass and they are finally able to jump back to Cerberus. All members get together and discuss what happened to Balam and the connection with the death of the baron. They wonder what the long term ramifications are going to be. Lakesh wants to talk to Brigid alone so dismisses the others.
Kane goes through decontamination, then back to his suite. He showers, shaves and tries to make himself feel human once again. When he exits his bathroom Beth Li is waiting for him. They talk, and she makes it clear that she wants him to have sex with her. She slips out of her clothing off.
Despite himself, he is very aroused, but he still refuses to give into her.
Before he gives in, a call from Brigid informs him that she wants him to join her and Lakesh for a meeting. Beth Li answers and even over the intercom Kane can hear Brigid's irritation She leaves, not bothering to dress.
At the meeting they discuss the HAARP project and what it was supposed to be able to do, as well as the creator a man named Tesla. Lakesh wants Kane and Grant to find out what happened in Ragnarville.
The next Morning a terrifying storm, unlike anything they have ever seen before hits Ragnarville. The storm is so powerful it causes at least one Deathbird to crash. Barch and Royce discuss the storm and the fact that it seems to be controlled. At this time Barch announces that he intends on taking over the barony for himself. He then makes Royce the full head of the Magistrates.
Barch then calls the trust together and informs them that he is taking control, and that Royce is to be initiated into the trust. One member of the trust refuses to go along with the plan and insists that Royce arrest Barch for treason. Barch tells Royce to do his duty and he kills the man.
Royce is initiated into the trust.
Kane and Grant arrive in the Redoubt where they had encountered the Magistrates. They run into the guards, and bluff, saying that Barch sent them. It nearly works until one of magistrates named Hadley notices that the badge on Kane's armor is fake.
But instead of killing the Magistrates, they take them captive.
Back at Cerberus, Brigid and Lakesh are discussing her relationship with Kane. He wants her to stay away from Kane so that it'll give him a chance to impregnate Beth Li. Lakesh is afraid that Kane could very well die before he passes his seed on.
Several weeks back they noticed that horrific weather had been spotted around redoubt Zulu. The discussion then goes into the Doomstar Project, a defense against invasion from Russian forces, as well as the AI that controls it.
Lakesh asks Brigid if she and Domi would be willing to go to the redoubt and find out what happened. She agrees. Domi is still in physical therapy, but readily agrees to come along.
Before leaving Brigid goes for a swim. She is about to enter the pool when she spots Beth Li screwing Auerbach's brains out. Rouche notices her watching and gives her a defiant glare.
After they take the magistrates sandcat Kane and Grant make it past most of the check points easily. They make it straight into the Tartarus pits. They spend a little time asking around until they locate the local pit boss.
Brigid and Domi jump into redoubt Zulu. They notice how warm the redoubt is. Even from where they are, they can see that the redoubt has been occupied. They go out to inspect things. They even go right outside. They are shocked when they see a warm, sunny day instead of the frozen tundra they were expecting. A voice startles both of them.
Royce discovers Kane and Grant are inside the Tartarus pits. He tries to contact the two magistrates that they are impersonating without success. He decides to send a squad down to capture them, then goes to tell Barch what he has found.
Kane and Grant meet the pit boss Klaw and learn what happened to the baron. They decide to make a temporary alliance with the woman in order to escape the pits. Before it can be done, a group of Magistrates attack and kill Klaw's Strong arm, then demand their surrender.
Brigid and Domi talk to the computer hologram, Tara. They can't get much out of it, other than the fact that she was responsible for the warm weather they see. They do learn modified the system. Barch and Berrier.
Kane and Grant find themselves forced to holster their weapons and go with Royce's Magistrates. They go to see Barch who is now the baron. Instead of killing them, he asks them to join. To make matters worse, he uses the HAARP technology to partially control them to do his bidding. Before this they are sorely tempted to accept his offer to join them.
Brigid and Domi are forced by the computer system to go to the center of the redoubt and wait. They decide that it would be best to make a break for it. They break into a freight elevator to gain access to the lowest level of the redoubt by climbing the cable holding the elevator in place.
They find the control room for HAARP and discover the body of Berrier. She had her head hacked open and has been wet wired to the computer system. While they are looking Barch appears with a group of Magistrates as well as Kane and Grant.
The problem is that they are both still partially under the control of Barch. They are forced to tell Barch who Brigid and Domi are.
They spend time discussing exactly what the instillation is capable of. They also learn that Barch used Tara to assassinate the Baron Ragnar, as well as the terrible storm that hit Ragnarville. Royce is shocked to hell at the revelation.
Brigid tries and succeeds on getting through to Berrier, as well as the original interface, Ann Malloy. She asks Berrier if she willingly allowed herself to be hacked up and connected to the computer. She announces that Barch used the HAARP technology to force her to comply. She loses it and tries to attack Barch, but because of her holographic body is ineffectual.
But when Barch threatens her and the computer system, she activates the Doomstar Program in order to defend herself. Royce attacks and is blown limb from limb. Everyone decides to beat a hasty retreat out of the redoubt. Already winter is returning to the Alaskan tundra. Tara is right behind them.
Kane takes a chance and shoots Barch in the leg. Brigid then contacts Berrier and brings her out. Tara/Berrier kill Barch by ripping his heart out. The main threat against the redoubt is gone, and the Doomstar program shuts down.
Tara allows them to use the gateway to return to Cerberus but tells them that eternal winter is going to return to this part of Alaska, and that they are never to return to the redoubt.
End of Doomstar Relic
A total of One month, 2 days passed in this novel