by James McEwan
Thorne had kept a low profile, mostly living on his yacht, always on the move, hiding in space as much as he could. Today he was sitting on the bridge of his ship trying to figure his next move when the space in front of his view screen exploded in a brilliant show of light and color. The shot shook the yacht tossing it around, as if it were a toy boat in a large bathtub. He had to grab the sides of his chair to be kept from being tossed out of it. “What the fuck was that?” He yelled out.
The communication panel lit up so he opened the channel, “Unidentified ship, this is Captain Wesson of the UTFS Damocles. I’m ordering you to power down your weapons, and engines, and heave to. You are being boarded,” said the voice over the comm channel.
“UTFS Damocles, I will not power down anything and what gives you the right to fire on my ship? If you check your registry, you will find my tail number is listed under clandestine operations. I should be listed as the UTFS Sentry. I have clearance to run anywhere I please. So bugger off,” Thorne replied.
Nothing happened for a few seconds, which made him feel he had just dodged another bullet. “Okay that was a close one,” he said out loud. Then the ship rolled violently to the port side, this time sending Thorne crashing down onto a console. The ship righted itself, relative to its former course position. One look at the damage control screen told him the Damocles had targeted and effectively destroyed his screens and weapons. Furious, Thorne opened the comm channel, “Captain Wesson how dare you fire on a General of the Starguard Marines!”
“Oh, I’m sorry former General who is in disgrace. As far as your ship is concerned, there seems to be no record of it. The only thing I can find in your record is that you were forced out of the service for conduct unbecoming of an officer. As far as I’m concerned, you’re illegally operating in my patrol sector. Because you have failed to comply with my orders, I had no choice, but to open fire. Now heave to, and prepare to be boarded, or the next shot will blow you out of the black.” The channel cut off leaving Thorne to stand there, mouth open, not knowing what to say.
Thorne did the only thing he could. He powered down his engine and prepared the docking hatch. After a soft thud and the hissing sound of air being forced into the air lock, it opened. Thorne was confronted by some very large and serious looking marines. They flanked him and each one took up positions, with weapons drawn.
Once Thorne saw the captain he remembered his face, “Captain Wesson, are the guns really necessary?” Wesson did not say a word just stepped aside, and there was Fiona. “Oh, I see,” Thorne said. Freya, followed by Eve, entered through the air lock.
Fiona walked up to him and spit in his face, Freya followed suit. Thorne stood there, ramrod straight, without moving. Then Eve stepped up to him, and spoke, “Remember us Thorne?” He did not reply, just stood at attention, as if he had been a private in front of his commanding officer.
“No matter, it’s now time to pay for what you’ve done,” Eve said.
“I have nothing to say to you, you computerized whore!” he said.
Eve laughed, “Why do little men like you always think whore is a major insult? Especially in this day and age where being a whore is not only legal, but on many planets the occupation is among the top earning and most respected of vocations.”
Thorne’s face was turning red. Eve could see she was getting to him. “Damn it Wesson! Are you really going to turn me over to these harpies? My God man, we served together, I once was your commanding officer. You can’t do this!”
Captain Wesson stood ramrod straight unmoved by Thorne’s words, “Yes I remember you Thorne, and I remember correctly it was your poor leadership and bad choices that got a lot of my friends killed. So, yes I fully intend to turn you over to them.”
Thorne started to say something, but no one wanted to hear it. Blue flashes of light slammed into him from the two marines as well as the twins. All of them were holding stunners.
Thorne awoke sometime later. He was not sure how long he had been out, but the pain in his back, sides, and head told him he was at least alive for the time being. He sat up and looked around. Astonished, he found himself sitting on the bed in his cabin on his own yacht. “Okay, this is not so bad, I guess. I wonder what they plan to do with me.” He did not know why he was talking out loud as there was no one to hear him. He tried the door, it was unlocked, Okay this is weird, he thought. He checked the whole ship. He was alone. The last place he looked was the bridge. There he found his answers.
On the main console was one of Thad’s pistols, he went straight over to it, picked it up and dropped the magazine out. It was empty, so he pulled the slide back, to find one bullet. He set it back down and checked the main display. Now it made sense, why he didn’t see any stars, he was in slip space where there was no visible light. He saw a hand written note taped to the communications panel, which instructed him to push the comm button. He pushed it and an image of Fiona popped up on the display.
“Thorne you miserable bastard, you’re awake,” Thorne wanted to say something, but her next words changed his mind, “Don’t bother yelling at the screen; this is a recording. I wanted you to know what your punishment is for all you have done. By now, I’m sure you have figured out that you are traveling in slip space. What you don’t know yet is the slip space generator was destroyed just after you entered, so you can’t make a slip space window to get out. That’s right. You are forever stuck in slip space. Oh, and don’t try calling for help, your transmitter has been removed. You have about six months of food and water, if you ration yourself.
You will see I have left you a pistol with one bullet. Now you can do the honorable thing and shoot yourself with it, or you can wait until you are starving and drinking your own piss, before you shoot yourself. Either way, I don’t care. Goodbye Thorne, you piece of shit. I hope you burn in Hell!” The display went dark. Thorne sat down in the captain’s chair and picked up the pistol. He turned it over and over in his hands.
Chapter 27
Thad felt every cell in his body buzz with electricity as he watched everything in front of him fade away to blackness. His body was racked with tingling as he felt like he was being pulled apart. Then as quick, as the blackness came it went. He found himself standing in the hospital room, but now there was no one in the room but him. He looked around, nothing was out of place, and no one was there. Then the door opened and a voice said, “Housekeeping.”
A small female robot entered the room and was startled by the sight of Thad. “I’m sorry Sir, I didn’t expect anyone to be in here.”
“It’s okay I wasn’t expecting to be here ether,” Thad said
“Sir,” The robot replied.
“Nothing, never mind,” he said as he left the room. He went to the nurses’ station, “Excuse me, but can you tell me which room Fiona Hammer is in?”
The nurse looked at the screen in front of her, “I’m sorry Sir, but we have no patients by that name.”
“Thank you,” confused he left the desk and walked towards the waiting area where a newsreader was on the large screen in the corner of the room. She was talking about a news conference that was about to go live. He stopped to watch it, his head was swimming, and anything could be a clue as to what had just happened to him. His jaw was just about hit the floor when he saw who was standing behind all the microphones.
“Thank you all for coming here today for those who don’t know me I am Doctor Julius Hammer.”
Thad was floored, and a small child noticed his shock and said, “Mister, are you okay?”
He looked down in the big brown eyes, “I get the feeling I am not in Kansas anymore kid.”
To Be Continued…
Dimension Shift continues the high-octane adventures of Thaddeus Hammer. Thad is alone and being hunted by the most dangerous man in a bizarre new universe. To his horror Thad learns the stalker is his alternative self.
How can Thad outsmart himself and get back home? The answer lies in keeping his father, Dr. Hammer, alive
for he alone holds the secret to traveling between dimensions.
Doing so requires Thad not only protect Dr. Hammer, but to do hand to hand with some of the nastiest low-life space scum in any universe. Aliens, criminals, you name it. Thad is their target, led by his evil alter ego who is determined to obliterate him.
Can Thaddeus Hammer overcome an entire universe, including himself? Find out in Dimension Shift, a wild new space adventure from author James McEwan. You will be glad you came along for the ride. It is as exciting as Hammer’s War-Forging the Hammer, the first in the series of the Hammer saga. In addition, it adds new dimensions, literally, to his voyage into the unknown.
