Sci Fi & Fantasy / Star Claw: Part Two (Analysis)
Written by Eric Gonzales
Star Claw: The Spirits of Zhym
#
“You’re saying you had a confirmed signal from it?” a man in a gray suit asked, walking alongside a man in a white coat as they headed down a hall in a corporate office tower.
“Yes, ten seconds strong, it is the third signal this month, still not long enough for us to pinpoint the exact location, but long enough for us to reconfirm it on the network.” The man with a white coat replied. “Its somewhere in the Fringe Worlds sector, past the Eastern Government borders.”
“That still could be anywhere, there’s hundreds of backwater colonial settlements out there, pirate dens, company industrial worlds.”
“Its worth looking into, the most advanced aerospace technology ever developed from the Gray’s secrets is out there.”
“Even if we did find it, the ILSA drive can outrun anything we have, even any weapons.”
“We have to do it for Lenard, this was his life project.”
“You have to let go of the past Vincent.”
“We still have to uphold his dream, that day he died in the attack and lost everything he worked for I made a promise to take up what he had begun. He died in my arms Neil, I promised him that I wouldn’t let his life go to waste.”
“How, all of his research was destroyed in the bombing, the pirates wiped out the data banks, hell even the Grays couldn’t tell you what Lenard was up too. He was a super-genius, light years ahead of this galaxy.”
“As long as there is a beacon out there, I can get that ship, I can reverse engineer it and relearn what Lenard unlocked. Please, don’t let this be wasted, think of the profits, no one could compete with that drive. Not even the Grays.”
“How are you going to find that ship?”
“I need a team.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll need funds from the corporation, think of it as an investment. If I can find this thing, we can revolutionize star travel. Think about it, drives that can reach light speed instantaneously at the push of a button without having to jump, no charge time, no more Fusion drives, we could hop from Earth to Mars in seconds instead of hours. The military would have a field day, no Gray weapon could touch their fighters, GTX Phase Cannons would be to slow to catch anything using an ILSA.”
“Okay, Vincent, I get the point. I’ll tell you what, I’ll let the Board know, I’ll do my best to persuade them, just get a report to me with everything you just said on it. But personally, I’m not promising you anything.”
“Thanks Neil, this means allot, you won’t regret it I promise.” The man in a white suit shook Neil’s hand as he walked away.
#
“Can I help you?” a tall muscular black-skinned man asked Michelle as she walked into the flight hangar where the ruined S.S. Tyson laid. The tall man put a box of metal parts on the desk near the hangar door.
“Hello, I’m looking for Baron.” Michelle asked.
“Oh, one sec” the man turned behind him, “hey boss! There’s a local here to see you.” Michelle looked in the distance seeing a arm raise behind the hull of the Tyson indicating that he had heard him. “He’ll be right down ma’am, my name is Ortise Johns, Doctor Ortise Johns that is, but my friends just call me Doc.”
“Nice to meet you Doctor Johns.” Michelle smiled and shook his hand.
“And your name?”
“Michelle.”
“Good to meet you too. How do you know the cap? An old girlfriend?”
“No, I met him last night,” Michelle replied, “does he have allot of stellar-women?”
“Oh.” Doc paused. “The cap’t? Ha, he wishes, that’s my department.”
“That’s good. Is he, available?”
“Yeah, he’s always available,” Doc paused again, “but on his terms. He doesn’t like to get too involved, his life is in the stars, he’s got a ship and sister to watch over and… what can I say, he’s a heart breaker, the women love him.”
“Hi,” the grease saturated Baron said, walking up behind the Doc. He handed the Doc a dirty rag and a handful of parts. “Welcome to mi casa. Or at least, what was mi casa.” Baron looked back to the ship missing hull pieces, a left atmospheric wing and two engines that had been shot to hell by phase cannons.
“So this is your ship?” Michelle looked it over. “Looks…good.”
“The Tyson is a wreck, I hope we will be able to fix the damn bird this time, otherwise I’ll be shelling out a heavy dollar to get us a new ship or just a transport back to federated space.” Behind him a Mylarian and a Kir’Shann worked on an open fusion thruster, trying to get the mag-shield back online so they could try to fire up the fusion engine.
“It looks repairable, I’ve seen worse.” Michelle recalled her past aerospace engagements. The Kir’Shann and Mylarian backed away as the mag-shield powered up, a wining noise drowned out the background noise.
“You think so?” Baron shouted.
“Of course,” Michelle shouted back as the whining grew and grew. Her eyes squinted as she covered her ears in reflex. Baron turned around noticing something was wrong.
“No, no that’s too much!” he yelled waving his hands. By the time the Kir’Shann and Mylarian realized what was happening the mag-shield generator was already out of control. They ran from the site, taking cover behind steel barrels and boxes in the corner of the hangar. “God damnit!” Baron said, “take cover!”
He grabbed Michelle by the shoulders taking her down to the ground as a brilliant flash of blue light and sparks fell over everything followed by a hard hitting wave of sound. The mag shield generator whined down, as electrical arcs flailed off the hull.
“Damnit.” Baron rose to his feet and offered Michelle his hand. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Michelle took his hand, pulling herself up.
“Those idiots blew the generator and over-shocked the ships entire shielding array, probably fried the damn computer too.” Baron kicked a burnt piece away from him. “Is everyone okay?” he yelled out. “If I haven’t said it eight billion infinitesimal times, perfect calc loads or else.”
“Well, I guess I’ll be going since this is a bad time.” Michelle said.
“Going?” Baron looked at her with a confused state. “Oh no, you can stay, I mean, I’m not pissed.”
“Its okay, you’re busy, I don’t want to get in the way.”
“Okay, well…hey, tonight, you want to do dinner?” Baron asked.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Okay, we’re all having a cook out as long as we don’t take out galley too by the end of the day.”
“Okay, when should I come?”
“Six EST.”
“Sounds good, see you then,” Michelle smiled walking away.
“Okay you clowns, whose ass am I going to have to kick for that one?” Michelle heard Baron yell out to his crew as she rounded the corner.
#
“Get your shoes on right now Alexx,” Michelle’s stern voice echoed from the bathroom clearing the noise the anti-humidifier made.
“No,” Alexx answered, her head locked on the holocaster’s program. She remained on her comfortable lying spot atop the bed, “I don’t want to go Mommy. I want to stay and watch The Winkys.”
Michelle turned off the anti-humidifier and walked into the main room. “Come on, right now. We’re going to dinner and I don’t want to be late. I’m not going to say it again.”
“But…”
“Right this second,” Michelle looked into her eyes, “or else no more Wiggleys-”
“They’re Winkys.”
“Whatever. No more Winkys for a week.”
“Okay Mommy,” Alexx turned off the holocaster and put on her shoes.
-
A short oriental man dressed in black combat armor walked through the steel armory of the Space Skull. His long straight black hair swayed with his motion as he passed by other combat armed men. Directly under his eye, on his left cheek was a tattoo of a quarter moon and Jezebel’s Star. Over his shoulder was slung a HK-MWA fourteen millimeter Sabertooth assault rifle. Fashioned at his side was a Bre’Keen Siphan Sword. As he walked through the armory, he picked up three marble sized Imperial G fifty-five Photon Blast Grenades.
An even shorter Popi walked up beside him. “Eclipse, we are almost ready. What do you think I should take, the Braun or the Repeater Plasma Rifle?”
“Take the Braun, it will be easier for you to carry.”
“Yes sir,” the Popi laid down the Plasma Rifle that was almost his length.
Eclipse walked up to the four meter tall Reptillian who was loading his contra cannon. “Roc, make sure the feed belt is properly connected to the ammunition case, otherwise it will misfire like last time.” Eclipse stopped to inspect the seventy-two millimeter round. “You also made sure the shells have primer right?”
Roc shook his head.
“Good. Roc, don’t forget your helmet.” Eclipse reached up to pat his shoulder.
Eclipse rounded the corner to the stairway, leading to the command deck of the Space Skull. Lilic was there waiting for him.
“I just wanted to make sure it was sharpened properly,” The Bre’Keen inspected the Siphan sword he had given to Eclipse; “it will serve you well.”
“Thank you Lilic,” Eclipse said as he walked up the stairway. The bridge of the Space Skull was dark with orange glowing monitors emanating light for the crew. Eclipse found the Captain by the orange reflection off his machine arm.
“How much longer?” the cyborg asked his navigator.
“We should be exiting the jump corridor in twelve hours, then another two or three hours at full ahead to Chrycian Prime’s planet-space.”
“It is close now, I can feel it.” Ajax grinned, rubbing his metal fist with his flesh fingers. “With a ship like that, no government could stop us, let alone catch us.”
Ajax turned to his right where one of his lieutenants was waiting to address him.
“The Black Flag is ready and awaiting your orders captain,” Ajax’s Raider Lieutenant said.
“Tell them that we strike in fourteen hours. I don’t want another disappointment Eclipse.”
“Yes Captain.”
#
Mira entered Baron’s quarters to the scent of his intoxicating cologne. “I got the updated core processors you wanted from the local parts shop. Funny that this backwater colony had them in good supply when they were nowhere to be found on Tau Prime.”
“I’m sure they were somewhere on Tau, I just didn’t want to spend a week hunting them down,” Baron said as he combed his hair. Mira walked up behind him, noticing his nicer than usual ensemble. “Actually, the dealer had them, but I didn’t want to pay ten times the price for just core processors. Good thing too, cause the whole computer got fried today anyway.”
“Haven’t seen you in that for a while, what’s the occasion?”
“We’re having some guests for dinner tonight?”
“Guests?”
“Yeah, two locals,” Baron fixed his shirt.
“And I take it they’re not clients?” Mira raised her eyebrows.
“No, after all that mess, I’m taking a vacation.”
“You, a vacation? That concussion really did you in didn’t it Cap’t,” Mira smiled. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway and propped her right foot against her left knee. “So what are they?”
“Guests.”
“You mean a date?”
“Well, I guess you could call her a date.”
“So it is a her. You were beginning to worry me Cap’t.”
Baron turned to her and smiled, “Don’t you have a computer to fix?”
“Negative, I love spending my time patronizing my Captain’s love life,” Mira hugged him, “I’ll make sure the crew doesn’t scare them away, I promise.” Mira kissed his cheek then walked away.
#
Michelle and Alexx walked into the hangar where the crew of the SS Tyson lingered about, drinking beer and barbequing hot dogs.
“Hello, you must be Michelle. I am Mira Leone,” Mira greeted her. “Baron will be out of the ship in a few minutes. Let me introduce you to the crew.”
“Nice to meet you,” Michelle smiled. “Say hello Alexx.”
She walked Michelle up to the first crewmate. “This is Doctor Ortise, or who we just call Doc.”
“Yes, I met him the first time I was here,” Michelle said.
“Hello Miss,” Doc shook her hand, “and little Miss.”
“This is my machinist and general muscles, Zru’th,” she said walking Michelle up to the tall green-skinned Reptillian who was nearly a kiloton of solid muscle. He stood a full meter above the already tall Doctor Johns.
“Nice to meet you,” the slow, deep talking Reptillian said to her.
“This is Thy’tok, he pilot’s the Tyson,” Mira said.
“It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance,” Thy’tok bowed before her. Large flaps hung over his shoulders.
“Look Mommy, he has wings,” Alexx pointed out. “Can you fly?”
“Yes I can, almost as high as this ship.” Thy’tok smiled. “We Mylarians love the air. A stormy pity Chrycian Prime’s atmosphere is toxic.”
“An old friend of mine was a Mylarian,” Michelle remembered. “The best wine in the galaxy comes from Mylar.”
“Better than life itself dear,” Thy’tok agreed.
“And this is Krass Niath, who we onboard the Tyson call Kraze.” She introduced Michelle to the young Kir’Shann warrior who was skinnier and shorter than Tygun as well as having shorter hair. Michelle knew that meant he was faster, more agile and better at climbing than Tygun.
“You’re a Scirra,” Michelle identified his sub-race, surprising Kraze. Most humans were ignorant of Kir’Shann anatomy. “My friend, on this station, is a Kultra.”
“My uncle is Kultra,” Kraze said. “An honor to meet you.”
“Your hair is spiky, not like Fluffys,” Alexx stated as she pet him.
“Alexx! It’s not nice to pet!” Michelle grabbed her hand.
“Worry not, she is in no violation of my honor,” Kraze said. “Children on Kir’Shanar love to pet also.”
“And this is,” Mira said as the approached Clara.
“I’m Baron’s sister, Clara,” she said, “and you must be Alexx.” Clara knelt down and smiled. “You’re so cute, like a doll.”
#
“How much longer are you going to be here?” Michelle asked Baron.
“A few days maybe,” he took a breath.
“Then where are you heading off to?”
“Back to Earth I think. I need to get my sister away from the fringe worlds. She needs to get on with a real life. I don’t want her living out here, no offense.” Baron looked down the long table to his sister who was laughing with Kraze at someone’s joke. “I see other girls her age, growing up in high schools, preparing for college on developed worlds, never worrying about mercenaries or aliens or getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. The most they deal with is bad boyfriends and what clothes to wear.”
“I feel the same way for Alexx. I wish I could return with her back to Earth space, but we’re only safe out here, away from everything.”
“You could come back with me. My house, in Australia, it’s safe. I could get you through Earth Defense customs,” Baron offered her with a smile.
“It’s okay. We’re are settled in out here, I don’t want to risk anything.”
“Who are you hiding from out here?” Baron asked. Michelle was silent. “I mean, I’ve hid from people before, but-”
“My past is a nightmare Baron, that haunts every corner of this galaxy. This is the only place I’ve found where I am invisible to its searching eyes. I’m too afraid that if I come up for air anywhere, it will find me and Alexx and take us out.”
“I don’t want to just leave you,” Baron said. “I’ll come back, I promise. Once I leave Clara off, maybe a month there and back.”
Michelle smiled at him, kissing his lips. “I knew you were more than my hero.”
“I can hunt anyone in this galaxy down. There isn’t anything I’m afraid of, really,” Baron said, the tempo of his voice increasing.
Michelle put her finger over his lips. “Its okay, for now, let’s just enjoy the time here.” Baron smiled. Michelle’s wide eyes locked onto his, possessing the power to ensnare the most powerful warrior.
Baron stood from his seat, heading to a trash receptacle. Along his way, he met with Doc and Thy’Tok. “I’m going to take tomorrow off, take it easy for a day. I want you to take the Tyson out for a check-run after you finish installing the new hardware. Make sure everything is in check and ready to roll by the day after.”
“No problem Cap,” Doc said, “she will be ready to fly.”
#
“We have entered Chrycian space undetected sir, three point two astro-meters and closing,” Eclipse said to Ajax. He looked at the growing spec, which was the distant sun of Chrycian Prime. “Cloak device and Tachyon scrambler report a successful incursion. Our para-dimensional jump corridor sealed without any unusual rupture.”
“Excellent work,” Ajax said, “tell the boarding crew to begin preparations.”
“Yes Captain. Estimated cruise time to Thatcher station is thirty-five hours.”
#
The hangar was fresh with the smell of cooking foods. Mira manned the grill with an apron that read, “Ain’t mooing now are ya!”
“Zru’th, you have to wait till I’m done okay?” Mira said to the large Reptillian as he stood next to her, fork in hand. “And you need a plate, this isn’t Makaso II.”
“Okay,” Zru’th backed away, “looks small.”
“I know, on this grill over here I have your own super-burger cooking.”
Zru’th’s tongue shot out with excitement.
“Hey, watch where you’re pointing that thing.”
“The meat smells enticing.” Kraze said as he walked up to the grill. “Such flavor and aroma comes from Earth beast.”
“Good old fashion Texan steer.”
“Are they fulfilling to hunt?” the Kir’Shann inquired.
“About as fun as shooting fish in a barrel. They’re not exactly known for their land speed or natural defenses,” Mira dropped a burger on his plate. “Buns are over there.”
Kraze carried on to the next table, taking a bread roll in hand. He sat down next to Alexx and opened his mouth, exposing his fangs. He shoved the bun into his mouth and swallowed it in one bite. Then he ate the meat, his tongue licking his fingers.
Thy’tok sat beside Kraze, noticing he was already finished. Alexx watched as the Mylarian slowly and delicately ate his food.
“You gonna eat that?” Doctor Johns asked Alexx, breaking her stare as he pointed to her leftover fries.
“I’m full,” Alexx said as she pushed her fries to him.
“Thank you doll,” Doctor Johns ate the fries, looking to his left to see Baron and Michelle talking mouth in ear to one another.
“What’s wrong?” Baron asked Alexx as she retreated into the arms of her mother.
“She doesn’t like that,” Michelle, said pointing to the can of Solar Best.
“What? How does she even know what it is?” Baron smiled.
“Her father liked to drink and the sight of it scares her,” Michelle held, “bad memories, you know.”
“Oh,” Baron replied, setting the beer can away from him, a self-inflicting pain.
#
“How long have you been here?” Baron asked Michelle as they walked hand in hand down a corridor on the main deck.
“Almost two years. Its been hard. Not much to do, nothing like what I was used too,” Michelle explained as they rounded the corner where a large observation window stretched from the floor to the ceiling against the exterior wall of the station.
“You ever been on the surface?” Baron looked out to see the planet below, the star dropping below the horizon.
“A few times. There’s not too much down there, except the garden.”
“Garden?”
“Yeah. There’s a nice garden and a hydroponics field. I’ve taken Alexx down there to remind her and myself what plants are like.”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing a garden right now,” Baron looked to her, “too bad my ship is busted.”
Michelle thought for a moment, “I know a way we might be able to get there.”
#
“So you can do it for us?” Michelle asked Ric, who was a little unsure about her inquiry. “It would mean so much for me.”
“Well, I guess. I mean just keep it on dark side you know, otherwise… I could get my license revoked.”
“Just a quick round trip planet side; no one will ever know were onboard,” Michelle said as she gave him her puppy eyes.
“Okay, okay, be at the dock by two hundred EST. I’ll sneak you on and take you down. We’ll be down for about three hours, you can tour the gardens. No one should be around, it’s all automated. Then we’ll go back up. Don’t be late though, I can’t wait around.”
“Your awesome Ric,” Michelle hugged him.
“I know,” Ric smiled.
#
Baron and Michelle walked through the greenery of the Oliver Garden, the nursery of the Milky Way sprinkled starlight from above. The icy blue reflection of Chrycian II filtered through the glass dome above, landing in the moon pool of the garden. Robots perfectly tended to the fields of various planet-life. Their movement was serenaded with the noise from a water canal raised a meter off the ground zigzagging through the garden, letting off small waterfalls that fell into estuaries which fed the plants.
Baron looked up at the stars, looking across the great expanse, wondering how he had ever made it this far. How he had escaped countless adventures filled with danger and terror and lived to remember them.
Michelle looked into his eyes, wondering the same, knowing that by all accounts the two should be dead; yet something inside of them made them hold on for one more day. To hold out for the star-crossed fate that maybe, in a galaxy of infinite possibilities, their troubles lives would meet.
They walked silently hand in hand to the end of the garden biome, where the view of the Olivia Trench could be seen in all its glory, lit by the faint blue light of Chrycian II.
Baron gazed into Michelle’s eyes, she moved forward, slowly kissing him. “All my life I’ve searched for someone like you, I had given up, I thought I would always be alone,” Baron whispered into her ear. “I want to be with you forever.”
“You want to be with Alexx forever too?”
“I will be more than her father ever could be. I’ll make sure she gets the life she deserves,” Baron kissed Michelle. “We will always be happy, together. It’s been so long since I have been able to smile like this.”
#
Clara looked through Michelle’s picture album on her holo-consul while Alexx played with her dolls on the floor. She flipped through the many pages of images capturing Michelle’s complex past.
Most of them were pictures taken within the metal confide of some space hulk, a skinny man stood next to Michelle, holding her in his arms. In the next picture, Michelle stood with a larger stomach, undoubtedly pregnant with Alexx.
The next set of pictures were of the family lying on the beaches of Emerald City on Tau Prime.
Clara pulled a data-drive out of her purse and placed it in the terminal, loading her own set of pictures. It was the first time she had been able to bring herself to view the pictures since the tragedy. There were the last pictures she had of Felipe.
#
“Clara, is that really you?” the tall handsome Frenchman walked closer to her. “I thought that I would never see you again.”
“I told you I would be coming back,” Clara smiled as she wrapped her arms around his back and kissed him. “I found a way; I won’t be here for long. I’m with my brother, we landed last night and have to deliver cargo tomorrow, after that; we’re fueling up and heading back to Earth.”
“You didn’t have to, these worlds aren’t safe now Clara, your brother is brave venturing here, Federals are not welcome.” He looked down to her, the voice reminding her of her brother.
“But I love you, she laid her head against his chest, running her fingers down the blue jumpsuit. “Come back with me.”
“We are from different worlds you must understand this. I am an Eastern Government officer, you are a Federal citizen. I could be court marshaled for talking to you. Your government is going to invade us again. I will be fighting and killing your comrades. You would have to betray your government.”
“I don’t care about politics. This is love.”
“Politics and love have never mixed well.”
“Felipe please, just ask me to stay, or come with me, leave the coming war behind. Forget about it, we could disappear into far space, leave everything behind.”
“It’s not that easy, Clara, look you’re just a kid, I don’t want you to get hurt or anyone you love to get hurt. I am sorry for what I did and I should have never done it, you’re too young.”
Clara eyes felt heavy as she took a deep breath and backed away.
“I’m sorry, I thought we we’re just casual. I thought you knew this, I mean, you were a traveler stopping by and we met by chance, each still heading in different directions. I thought that since the galaxy is so big, we would have never met again. Remember, it is better to have loved than never to have loved at all.”
“But…” Clara eyes became dazed. Her emotions began to choke and drowned, her first time wasted on a man who had used her. “You said you loved me…”
“I said you make good love.”
“Felipe, why.” A tear fell off her cheek.
“Clara, don’t cry, things like this happen all the time. Look, look at me.” He grabbed her shoulders. “Love doesn’t happen just once for someone, it is a long process of trial and error that we learn to love. You are a beautiful young girl, with at least fifty good years and an open galaxy ahead of you. Don’t be sad, you loved well.”
“I loved well? But not well enough!” she hit his arm. “Why? We were supposed to be together forever damnit! You stupid Eastling. I hate you.”
“Don’t leave angry Starlight.”
“Don’t call me that.” She brushed her bangs aside, walking away. “When the bombs start falling I hope one finds you.”
#
Clara broke down crying as guilt overcame her, how naive she was. She was mad at herself for loving Felipe and even angrier for cursing him with words her broken heart did not mean. A week later Felipe had been shot down by Federal fighters in a precision strike on Ticon Deroga. Since then, Clara held his death against herself.
Alexx quickly came to her side, with a confused look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s all my fault! He died because of me,” Clara sobbed.
Alexx just hugged Clara. It was the only thing she could do. It was also what she had done in the past when her mother broke down. Alexx knew that nothing she could say could help Clara, the only way she could comfort her was to help her hold on.
#
Chapter Three: Hull Breech
“Captain Davis?” A corporate soldier manning a security terminal put his hand in the air.
“Yes Gibson?” Davis came to his side looking at the monitor.
“I have two vacuum breaches on deck seven, blue sector. Only a fraction of a second, but enough pressure loss for atmospheric controls to pick it up. A total of seventy seven kilopascals lost in point zero seven two seconds. I suggest deck evac and pressure control crews?”
“Scanners register any unusual movement outside?” Davis asked.
“No, nothing, haven’t really been looking at the local scanners in the last few minutes though.”
“What’s that ship there?”
“Tag reads, Alpha Omega Corp, ID four eight two. Oh, it’s just a hauler, coming in from planet side. Its still about sixty thousand kilos out.”
“How come it isn’t on your main scanner?” Davis noticed. Gibson turned his eyes to the primary tachyon read-out. He frantically punched up ships he knew were in the vicinity. None of them registered.
“All of our own ships are still feeding data to us by our local area network, I think long range scanners are being jammed…” he said, “or the Tachyon’s offline somehow. I don’t understand, I did a sweep ten minutes ago, everything was normal. We just received a load of communication data twenty minutes ago from corporate’s mainframe.”
“What’s that ship out there? It’s moving fast, that isn’t a corporate ship.”
“That’s the Tyson, according to dock registry. She is testing her new engines and finalizing repair diagnostics. They’ve been on the station for a few days.”
“Raise station security to alert one.”
#
“This damn computer is still giving me shit,” Mira said as the stars whisked before her eyes in the forward window. She sat next to Thy’Tok on the four seat bridge of the Tyson. Thy’Tok looked to her monitor as he pulled the Tyson pitch-up, Chrycian Prime coming into view.
“Maybe there’s something wrong with the positron transfer duct from the bridge consul to the CPU?”
“Impossible, it’s all brand new. I checked it three times before we left and now, I got all this weird… its like interference.” Mira shook her head. “She’s really being a bitch today. Trixie, check the positron transfer duct. Why am I seeing anomalies?”
“No anomalies detected Mira,” the computer responded, “I am detecting unknown human error in reading my data.”
“Damnit, Trixie, I’m seeing them all over my screen. It’s like you’re getting interference from something. Are your scanners registering any usual solar activity?”
“Negative. No unusual solar interference, radiation or wind.”
“Wait, I just saw a flare or something, off the starboard side,” Thy’Tok pointed.
“That’s no flare, it’s a cloak! That’s what the hell it is, the scanners are fucked.” Mira said, unbuckling herself. “Trixie target field anomaly for unusual photon activity.”
“Minimal unusual photon activity detected in targeted field,” She answered. “decoding, hack detected.”
“Damnit. Thy’Tok, get us back to the station, I’m cutting off all network controls to ensure we don’t get hijacked by a trojan.”
“Roger,” Thy’Tok turned the Tyson back at the station.
“Damn, these bastards are good,” Mira typed quickly into her consul trying to secure the ship’s systems and backups. “They’ve got our communications in a cluster.”
#
“Watson… Watson, my magazine isn’t clicking in man,” a corporate security soldier tried to force a clip into his pulse rifle as red lights flashed on the walls of the barracks. “I hate these damn rifles.”
“Like this Macimara, damnit man, what do they pay you for?” Watson took the magazine from him, locking it in with proper application. “Maci, you know which end the bullets come out of right?”
“I’m just a little nervous Wats, and don’t call me Maci.”
“Garcia, you have that motion scanner working yet?” Watson looked to another security soldier.
“Yes sir, motion scanner is operational,” Garcia said.
“Fox, Lucas, Denari, you’re with Sergeant Forbes. Secure decks one through ten compartment by compartment and manually override the blast doors. Evac everyone to the common’s quad, then from there we’ll move to the escape pods. Lucas prep the emergency bunker planet side, inform the Artificial there that medical supplies will be needed. Maintain radio contact every three minutes. Zera, Pen keep watch of the common’s quad. Me, Garcia, Wats and Macimara will go with Captain Davis to the upper decks and secure the processing plant. Folk, Liberman, Posimonis and Zubuac’th, you will secure the dock.”
#
“Hey, I don’t mean to interrupt anything,” Ric rushed into the garden complex, almost losing his step as he tripped over a worker robot that beeped at him, “but Thatcher Station just went to security alert one.”
“What?” Baron and Michelle answered simultaneously.
“I don’t know, I just received the com-flash on my hauler. I tried to contact Thatcher, but communications are down,” Ric explained. Michelle froze with fear. “Do you think I should transmit an emergency message to corporate?”
“It wouldn’t matter,” Baron said, Even a nearby ship would take days to get here.” Baron thought for a moment, “The Tyson should still be testing. Try to contact them, here is their hailing address,” Baron quickly jotted down the communication ID, Trixiebabycampbell, two four two.
“We need to get to the station,” Michelle bolted to the entrance of the garden complex. At the airlock they climbed back into their pressure suits. Ric opened the airlock as the rocky landscape filled the path ahead.
#
Clara led Alexx by the hand, exiting the apartment and moving into the hallway. Faint noises of weapons fire and explosions echoed in the background. “Stay close to me.”
“What’s happening?” Alexx looked up at Clara’s panicked face, “I want my Mommy.”
“I don’t know, I… I think the station is under attack.”
“I don’t like this. Let’s go back to my house.”
“The computer at your house told us we have to evacuate the station. It’s not safe there anymore.” The lights flickered as they headed down the evacuation path, which lead them to the station’s exterior walls, where the Emergency Escape Pods could be found.
“I’m scared, I wanna to go back.” Alexx whimpered.
The fear filled air exploded with gunfire and small concussions followed by screams. Clara’s fears were confirmed as her frozen body turned around. “This way, this way,” she dragged Alexx behind her. They walked back through the apartment block, up the stairs to the main access hall, which headed to the center of the empty station.
“Did we miss the first evacuation call?” Clara wondered. She and Alexx had been listening to loud music when they noticed the alarm.
They walked quietly into the common’s quad. Clara gasped, covering Alexx’s eyes and holding her close. Bodies and body parts littered the blood painted scene.
She looked to her left, spotting two dead corporate soldiers, face down on the ground. One was decapitated while the other was missing an arm.
Clara heard something rummaging across the common’s quad. She quickly grabbed Alexx and ducked behind an overturned table, peeking over to see what she heard.
A monstrous looking humanoid warrior, a Bre’Keen, was filing through the bodies, searching. Clara’s hands shook, knowing that the Bre’Keen alone had killed all these people in a rage of blood. The Bre’Keen took two deep breaths of air, noticing an unusual scent. It quickly drew its long sword, searching around.
The Bre’Keen walked closer to them, Clara’s body still shaking with fear. “Don’t look sweetie,” she said to Alexx.
The deep and scratchy breathing of the Bre’Keen brought tears to Alexx’s eyes.
“There it is, fire!” a voice from the second level balcony of the common’s quad said as pulse rifle fire erupted. Hundreds of rounds ricocheted off the metal floor.
The Bre’Keen rolled to its side behind a metal support pillar and drew a phase pistol, returning fire.
Three pirates in black armor stormed into the quad returning fire. A rocket propelled grenade screamed from their ranks slamming into the second level, dislodging the corporate soldiers from their position.
“Watson! Watson!” a voice from above yelled, “Shit, Macimara, Garcia fall back!”
Clara slowly retreated back into the hall with Alexx.
Another squad of corporate soldiers entered from the opposite hall that Clara and Alexx had come through. They quickly took up defensive positions and started firing.
A particularly large pirate advanced fearlessly into the fray. As he got closer, Clara noticed that he was a Reptillian. His massive body drew fire like iron to a magnet. However, the tiny rounds did little but pelt the four-meter tall monster. The angered green-skin raised a monolithic cannon and opened fire.
“Get down! It’s a Contra!” one of the soldiers shouted.
A loud drumming exchange began as a massive tank sized cannon fired upon the corporate soldiers in repeated succession, viciously tearing into their position. The rounds pulverized everything in their path. Shop windows shattered at the sound of their thundering slam.
Clara covered Alexx’s ears as her own eardrums rocked.
The cannon clicked without firing and there was silence. Smoke enveloped around the common’s quad. Clara peeked around the corner, noticing that the Reptillian stood, still trying to fix its Contra Cannon.
Two corporate soldiers lay devastated by the cannon. Their dismembered remains scattered across the quad. The Reptillian yelled out a curse in its own tongue, standing in the open.
“Roc, Roc!” a pirate yelled.
As it stood confused, a single shot rang out, exploding through its head and causing its twitching body to crash down to the floor.
“Nice shot Davis,” Clara heard one of the soldiers say as the pirates began firing again. Clara turned back around seeing the remaining six soldiers run through the common’s quad rushing through the tables of the restaurant and engaged the remaining pirates from the edge of the restaurant.
A minute or so passed as the pulse rifle fire continued. Then it stopped. Clara peeked around again, seeing four of the soldiers still standing, helping two wounded.
She quickly stood, waving her hands to the remaining corporate soldiers ahead of her. She grabbed Alexx’s hand and ran towards them.
They met them in the middle of the common’s quad where the restaurant was.
“Are you okay?” Captain Davis asked Clara.
“Yeah, we’re not hurt.”
“It still isn’t safe here, this area is unsecured.”
The restaurant’s kitchen door opened.
Davis quickly whipped his body around, taking aim with his pulse rifle. A Kir’Shann emerged holding his wounded arm.
“Fluffy!” Alexx shouted as she ran to him.
“Medic, we got a live one over here,” Davis proclaimed.
“My wounds are not life threatening,” Tygun said as he set his Scirra sword on a half broken table. “There is still a Bre’Keen Death Knight here somewhere. I was fighting him in the kitchen when both of us were struck by stray rounds. I lost track of him when we took cover from the cannon fire. He is equipped with Ilani Armor and his own personal shielding generator. Your bullets have little chance of harming him; your energy weapons will do nothing. Two of your warriors fell by his sword, as did many others here. He is a worthy adversary; however, he is honor less.”
“We almost had him,” Captain Davis said.
“He will return,” Tygun looked to Clara and Alexx. “Come with me, in here. You will be safe.”
Alexx and Clara followed Tygun into the restaurant. He punched in a security access code for the office and opened the door. Inside sat two other humans.
“Mr. Welch, Mr. Ponzo. These are my friends, Clara and Alexx. See to their safety and guard them with your life.” Tygun instructed.
“Sure.” Brando Welch replied.
“There is a Bre’Keen about us. He is quick and dangerous. Be mindful of all details,” Tygun told them.
“Captain, they are Black Sail.” Watson said, examining the tattoo on a fallen pirates arm just outside the restaurant.
“So the legendary Captain Ajax is here,” Davis said to himself. “I wonder what brought him all the way out here. There’s nothing worth his time here. This is pocket change compared to the operations the Black Flag has claimed responsibility for in the past.”
“Do you think we have any chance sir?” Watson asked with a worried tone in his voice.
“Well, I’m not going to lie to you Wats, the Black Flag rarely take prisoners. This is going to be do or die. Intel reports have said that their flagship carries at least sixteen hundred pirates. That’s three hundred more personnel than this station has.”
“The Death Knight is a mercenary, not of pirate code,” Tygun said. “He has been enlisted for a specific purpose. An expensive purpose. What are you doing on this station that could draw such dangerous attention?” Tygun looked to Captain Davis with demanding eyes.
“We’re not doing anything; this operation is funded by the corporation for purely mining purposes. There isn’t anything else going on here. I swear.” Captain Davis tried to explain. The Kir’Shann’s face told Davis he was not believing him.
#
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Michelle asked. The forward window of the hauler lit up with flames from the atmospheric exit.
“We are at twenty percent above maximum recommended thrust,” Ric glanced at the thrust manifold readout.
The fires in the window ahead of them faded and the stars came through again, the station a spec on the horizon as the ship blasted towards its position.
“You have any weapons on this thing?” Baron browsed the ships system computer.
“Weapons?” Ric laughed.
“A pistol, anything?”
“No sorry, must have forgot them. There may be some ore rocks left in the cargo compartment. Harsh language may be more combat effective though.”
“Damn, I knew I should have taken a pistol, always take a pistol,” Baron scolded himself.
“Maybe… maybe its just a false alarm or something,” Michelle said.
“Warning! Warning!” the computer sounded. “This vessel has been targeted by military munitions. Warning!”
“What the hell?” Baron looked over the targeting report. “It’s a mark seventy Scimitar.”
“I have an unregistered ship on the nav-comp,” Ric said.
Michelle’s eyes widened at the sight of the holographic visual. “Oh my god! It’s the Space Skull. Oh no! No!” her eyes started tearing as anxiety overwhelmed her.
“Munitions fired,” the computer said, “Warning! Incoming munitions, Warning!”
“Shit! Make this thing dance man,” Baron said looking through the ship’s computer for any type of defensive countermeasures. “Nothing? I can’t believe this! Not even a damn airbag.”
“I can’t shake it,” Ric said, “she’s too fat.”
“Not even any shielding?” Baron hit the computer. “Get your pressure helmets back on.”
“Munitions, three thousand kilometers and closing. Time to impact, thirty seconds. Warning! Brace for impact. Warning! Automated defense system activated, switching to emergency power and life support systems, no defensive countermeasures installed.”
“It’s closing fast!”
“Get us low to the planet, we’re going to have to ditch!” Michelle ordered.
“What?”
“It’s the only way,” Michelle said.
“How do we get back out?” Ric asked.
“I have a way, just listen to me. Head to this position on the surface. Try to get us there,” Michelle locked in the coordinates on Ric’s heads up display. She sat back in her seat, buckling up the emergency restraints. “You can do it Ric, I know you can.” Baron also buckled his emergency restraints.
The missile bolted towards them as Ric pushed the vessels physical dynamics.
“Hang on!” Ric yelled as the Scimitar slammed into the back hull, taking out the primary fusion thruster. The ship jolted hard as the star field in the window whirled about. Ric failed to hold his heading as he lost all control. Emergency lighting flickered and sparks flew.
“We’re falling space shit!” Ric said. The powerless hauler descended to the surface, slamming into the atmosphere. “Direct hit, thrusters are gone. We’re going to smash into the surface!”
“No were not,” Michelle. Claimed as she unbuckled herself. “We’re going to jump-fall.”
“I’m not a jumper,” Baron said.
“You are now.”
“I mean I’ve never used one. I failed the free-fall class.”
“It’s okay, just hang onto me. The first time is always the best;” Michelle told him. They struggled to pull themselves from their seated positions. The inertia dampers did their best to quell the high speed gravitational trapping. Michelle made her way to the airlock of the hauler, opening an emergency kit mounted on the side. Inside were bounce harnesses equipped with Grav-Rebound units and vector thrust units. She passed two out and strapped one on herself. “Like this,” she instructed Baron. “Make sure it’s locked in tight.”
“Try to maintain ball form until you come to a complete stop,” she said, well aware of the survival rate ratio for emergency jumps. “We’re jumping,”
She opened the airlock, some two thousand meters from ground level. Her arm muscles flexed, holding tight to the grab bar as the jolt of air tried to pull her out. With her free hand she grabbed Baron. “Now!” she commanded as she leapt from the falling craft. Ric was close behind them.
The falling hauler quickly took the lead, passing by them. “This way,” Michelle managed to say through the helmet communicator. She angled her body and fired the thrust vectors. “We need to get away from the impact zone.”
“Don’t worry, I shut off… the reactor… core.” Ric struggled to say.
“The fuel cells, will still rupture. We… need to get a minimum… of ten kilos from the… crash site.”
Baron held onto Michelle while she guided them in a safe direction. “Like this Ric, like this!” she yelled.
“I can’t! I can’t change direction!”
“Hold your arms back! Come on, like this!” she demonstrated. The space between them quickly grew.
“Come back!” Ric yelled.
“I can’t Ric! You can do it!”
Painful seconds passed as Ric tried to change his course mid-fall. He looked below him and saw that the large hauler had disappeared.
“I can’t see him anymore,” Michelle exclaimed. The rocky surface approached.
“I can’t see you either!” Ric cried.
A bright flash shot up from below, whitening the early morning sky of Chrycian Prime.
“There’s fire below me!” Ric cried, “its coming up fast! Oh God!”
“Ric, Ric!” Michelle felt her heart drown in the radio silence. The shockwave slugged both her and Baron, knocking them farther away from epicenter of the explosion. In the distance, she saw a wall of fire climbing, higher and higher. A fiery tiara crowned the massive ball at the fire mountain’s peak. The temperature gauge in her helmet’s heads up display climbed to two hundred degrees Celsius even though they were still a good distance from the blast.
“Ric, copy! Ric, copy!” Tears filled Michelle’s eyes. “Curl up into a ball,” Michelle instructed as she tucked her legs into her arms. Baron did the same as the two fell at terminal velocity while the rebound shield charged.
Michelle and Baron slowly drifted apart in the last moments of free-fall. Michelle’s altitude read-out quickly approached zero. Then in an instant, the ground was among them. The two falling bodies cracked into the surface, but did not actually touch it. The rebound shield engaged absorbing much of their crash energy and dispersing it across the ground. The rocky surface was shattered as two impact craters unearthed tons of debris. The two bounced back into the air, bouncing less and less until they came to a rolling stop.
The dust was still settling when Michelle opened her eyes and felt the impact of the crash landing. Her arms and legs burned from scrapes and gashes. She pushed herself up, thrilled that her breathing apparatus was still functioning. She looked around to find Baron about fifteen meters to her left. When she tried to stand, she fell. Her right ankle was swollen, but she could still move it. She pushed herself back up and hobbled over to Baron.
“Well that went well,” Baron remarked, when he noticed her helmet looking down on him through his visor.
“Your leg is broken,” she replied.
“I told you I wasn’t a jumper.” Baron gasped as he tried to move.
“Try not to move,” she held down.
Michelle looked around the red surface and saw the Chrycian star rising in the distance over a canyon.
“I’m sorry Ric,” she turned to her left where a bloom of smoke rose kilometers
away.
“What should we do now? How far is that processing plant from where we are?” Baron asked.
“We’re not going to the processing plant,” Michelle replied, focusing on their situation.
“We’re not?”
“I’m going to get my ship.”
“You have a ship down here? Where?”
“It’s hidden. Look, you can’t come. I’ll come back for you. Your oxygen will last, but this is the only way, I can’t carry you. We’re too far away from anything.”
“Understandable. But, you’re sure there is a ship out there for you? What if someone stole it?”
“No, it’s still there. No one knows it’s here.”
“Will you be okay? I mean, are you okay?” Baron asked, wondering if there were tears in her eyes behind the helmet.
“I’ll…be okay,” Michelle’s voice broke, “I’m fine. Really.”
“I’m sorry I can’t go with you.”
“I know. It’s okay.” Michelle said. Baron heard an aching tone in her voice as she sniffled. “I… I just…” Michelle fell to her knees, “all my life I’ve done nothing but hide from myself. I’m so sorry, God; I’m so sorry…” she cried.
Baron tried to rise to his feet to comfort her, but he fell back to the ground.
“It’s okay, you’ll be okay. We’ll get them back,” Baron said as he pulled his broken body to her side. He rubbed his hand on her back even though she could not feel his touch through the suit.
“I’ve killed so many people Baron. I’ve done so many bad things in my life. I know God hates me. I knew that I would have to pay for the things I’ve done, I just pray to Him everyday that He will choose to take me instead of her. Please Lord. Please don’t take her!” she cried out.
“What do you mean? You’re a good person. You’re a good mom.”
“No Baron, I was a pirate. I’ve killed more innocent people than I can remember. I’ve… I’m a monster. And now Ric is dead too, and its all my fault.” Baron was frozen in silence. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t run to the Federation, I’m wanted there. I can’t just give back the Star Claw, he’ll kill both of us anyway. My baby is going to pay for everything I’ve done!”
“No…” Baron replied, “no more. I’ve spent my life as a mercenary for corporations, hunting down criminals and I’ll be damned if I give up now. I know they can’t change, but somehow you did. You’re a different person now; I see it in your eyes every time you look at your daughter. You gave it up Michelle; you gave it all up and you regret every inch of your mistakes. You’re free. Don’t you understand? Whatever you have to pay in the future is then. This is now. Right now, we have to get back to Alexx and Clara. Don’t give up now. Alexx isn’t your debt, she’s your chance at proving to God or whoever who you really are. I know you can do this.” Baron held her as the strong winds of Chrycian Prime whistled past them. “They need you right now Michelle. I need you right now. We all need you to be strong.”
Michelle hugged Baron, “thank you.”
“You can do it, I know you can.”
#
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I guess I can say is I kinda liked it. I was lost and I tried to follow along but I got lost. I don’t know if it’s you or me but I think it’s most likely me, seeing that science fiction isn’t my thing.
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I was only able to get to the 6th page due to pressing family commitments but what I have so far read was excellent especially with using jump speed coordinates, planet destinations and sentient beings as allies. I thoroughly enjoy sci-fi. Keep up the good work!
To me in feel your work reminds me of Simon Green’s Deathstalker work. I feel which fun and entertaining this is primarily a dialog piece and to create a really believable world you need to flesh out it bones, not just assign names to them. Overall though I enjoyed the pace and entertainment quality of this piece.
I am impressed by the use of dialogue in this story, written very well. I liked this story a lot. I like all of the various scenes in it, however, I prefer each scene lasting longer, then going to the next scene. But either way, it is very entertaining. I felt the various scenes were only a glimpse of something greater to come?
You are a very creative writer, and obviously intelligent. The typos I saw were few, knowing when to use ‘to’ and ‘too’ and ‘two’ were just a couple of them I saw. Probably, typing errors, since you have acquired great punctuation skills.
I love the imagry here, and the creativity. I would like to know what each of the things were exactly that you have invented, for simply that reason. I noticed some things match other sci-fi books, which works obviously since it helped to recognize the words. I enjoyed the parts your voice became possessive over the reader, at least that was the impression I got.
With that, thank you for a great read, and i will look to see more in the future.
Thanks,BHM
Great! I was looking forward to the continuation of this. I remember the last one was really good.
network.” The / …network,” the – The next sentence should be “it’s”.
“Its worth / It’s
to take up what he had begun. / where he left off. –This just has a better “ring” to it for me.
The dialogue here is clever because it tells the reader what’s happened. This is good compared to the “info-dump” that’s often just dropped into the narrative.
“Hello, I’m looking for Baron.” Michelle asked. –I’d switch this to “said” as it’s a declarative sentence.
A suggestion, “…means a lot. You won’t regret it… I promise.”
the cap / the Cap
bad time.” Michelle said. / …time,” I’ve noticed a lot of punctuation errors when it comes to the dialogue, but I won’t point them out anymore to save you credits. Just be wary—they’re out there.
Honestly, this piece seems less polished than the first one. Here there’s a lot of colorless verbs used, “looked”, “turned” etc. Try substituting in more descriptive verbs like “gazed”, or “glanced”, or “flipped off”.
short oriental / Oriental –I’d suggest Asian though…
“…green-skinned Reptillian…” If possible, I’d give this description when he’s first introduced into the story.
nightmare Baron, that haunts / …nightmare, Baron. It haunts…
Hmmm… I guess if I had to pick out a major issue I had with this piece it would be that it was completely sans action, conflict, or drama. Sorry, but it was dry to me. The closest it came to anything was at the end of chapter 2 when Clara had her fit. That was about halfway through the story. It just seems like everyone is getting along with each other “too well”. What kind of conflicts could come up? Surely someone in this cast of characters has to have a bad temper, or is irritable, or mischievous. Fortunately, the action picks up at the beginning of the next chapter. Then when Clara leaves the apartment… But this is after 5500 words which equals about 20 “book” pages. I suspect SF fans would have a tough time continuing through this part without something juicy to keep their attention.
There seemed to be a lot of characters that had cropped up that weren’t in the last chapter. I mean, there were a lot of characters in the first piece, but a ton of them that I didn’t recognize in reading this consecutive installment. Would there be a way to kind of cut back or “streamline” the cast? Sorry, it just makes it a bit confusing. Perhaps if you keep them, when you get this published you could include at the beginning an index of characters and who they are… I’ve seen this done before in pop SF. Good luck with this and thanks for sharing.
-Curt
the beginning absolutely grabbed me by the cojones (and i don’t even have any)... i was getting ready for the next “star wars”... the beginning of your story is that good…!!
then on page 23, 14 or 15 you started losing me… too much romance.. too quickly… i would tease the character relationships a bit more… stay technical and “fantastical” longer, let relationships develop way later… and check for grammatical errors…
this can be a fantastic work of fiction.
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