The Space Traveler (The Space Traveler Saga Book 1)

by Devon Shubin

  The Space Traveler thought about what the Chancellor was saying, he did not respond.

  “Now, on to your previous assignment. I am satisfied to know that you took care of the problem on Lordak Pogna. King Beziah sent me a review of you and your new helpers.” He looked down at a digital screen in his hands. “The King clapped ten times, wagged his tongue three times and gave you, what looks like a jump-hop-step. I have no idea what all of that means but if he’s not hissing, then I’m happy. However, now that we got through with the pleasantries, down to the one issue we do have. And that is, what happened to your assistant Fretch?”

  “Well, Chancellor, I’m going to have to put it in my report. But we lost Fretch.”

  “You lost him? How, where?” The Chancellor asked as he sat the digital screen on table next to his deck.

  The Space Traveler thought about it long and hard and began telling him how they were captured by the rebel Bodas, escaped, transported to Cudat Col, captured again and escaped with the help of Alegna. The Chancellor just stared at him from the screen.

  “Inspector, every time you have an adventure, I am in disbelief even more than the last time. Why does this continue happening to you?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” the Space Traveler responded as he reaches for his jar of lollipops. The Chancellor looked over to where he is grabbing the red sucker from the jar and frowned. “Don’t you do it Inspector,” he ordered.

  “Do what?” The Space Traveler pretended not to know, but he knew, because he pulled this stunt on almost every discussion they had.

  “Inspector, I am warning you!” The Chancellor pointed his finger at the screen.

  “What do you mean?” The Space Traveler said as he ripped the wrapper and popped the sucker in his mouth.

  “There you go!” the Chancellor scoffed as he held the top of his head. “I need you to be serious here Inspector. You need to explain to me how the Yiskuliang and the white star creature got on aboard your ship?”

  “No pob-um, ye see, Alena snug on my sip and rescu me and Mipah, dat da sta ma.” He plopped the sucker out if his mouth and smiled.

  The Chancellor sighed. “Ok, like I always do I respond to your weird ways. If I got that correctly, the female, Alegna snuck on your ship and rescued you and Misspa, the star man. Is that correct?

  “Yeah,” He put the sucker back in his mouth.

  “Thank you for that briefing Inspector.”

  Alegna watched from her cock pit chair, giggling at how silly the Space Traveler was behaving. The Space Traveler looked at her and smiled while the white stick of the sucker protruded from his teeth.

  “Inspector, you do realize that the female, is in violation of section 82-70, which prohibits all unauthorized beings from traveling through space. What do you have to say about that?”

  Still with lollipop in his mouth, “Whale, I tink it is a viowation to die on a pwanet you cam to hewp.” He plopped the sucker out of his mouth and smiled at the Chancellor.

  “Being ornery is not professional Inspector. The Universe is counting on you to take care of the problems with dlom. Not entertain yourself or your new stowaways with a comedy routine.”

  “You are right Chancellor. I will cease being me until the conversation is over. After that, there’s no telling what may happen. What else boss man can I help you with?”

  Mizpah floated over to the screen blocking the Chancellor’s view of the Space Traveler. “What song would you like to hear?”

  The Chancellor frowned. He waved his hand left and few times saying, “Please move creature. I have important business to handle with the Inspector.”

  The Space Traveler pushed the floating Mizpah and he drifted off like a balloon to the hallways. “He’s a synthetic being that we encountered on Cudat Col.”

  “Cudat Col! How in Hibot’s did you get to Col?”

  The Space Traveler smiled, “Well, remember the transportation I briefly mentioned? That was where it went. It seems that one species of beings is allowing access to Wurtha. We found gold nuggets on Lordak Pogna and Col. As a matter of fact, an entire pyramid temple-like building was constructed of gold. I almost died in that chamber room if Alegna had not swooped down and saved me.”

  “Was that where you lost Fretch?”

  The Space Traveler shook his head yes and then lowered it. He liked Fretch, even though he knew him for a couple of days or so. Although he pokes fun and behaves like a sarcastic wise-guy, deep down he hates to see anyone suffer or lose their life.

  The Chancellor continues, “Do you believe this is related to the outbreak of dlom on Fequ?”

  He thought about it for a moment and then the Space Traveler answered, “It may. I will need to investigate the source of the unauthorized transportation to be certain. The transporters are for trading of goods not people and especially not items that need quarantine. I need to get to Wurtha.”

  “Perhaps,” the Chancellor replied while rubbing his chin in thought, “however there is a matter of protocol needed immediately on Underlay Lask, the planet your female stowaway is from. She could be helpful to you on this assignment Inspector. Use her knowledge of the people and area. As for the star creature, be careful not to let him out of your site. Remember, the last time you were on Underlay Lask you were detained and tried for conspiracy to commit yourself as the most grateful. They didn’t like that very much.”

  “It wasn’t grateful boss man, it was…gracious… they said. I was trying to be too gracious. Only they can be gracious, go figure. You came and saved me. I did appreciate your testimony for me Chancellor.”

  The Chancellor huffed, “It could have been against you. Now, set your destination for Underlay Lask Inspector.”

  The Space Traveler nodded his head and the digital screen went black. The voice from the computer acknowledged, “Transmission over.”

  He swung his chair around and faced Alegna. “Well, I guess it’s you and me after all.” She smiled at him as Mizpah came floating back into the bridge. “Do you know who the Beatles are? I have over 124 songs from the band. I can play all of them for you if you like.”

  Alegna smiled and shook her head no. The Space Traveler spoke into the computer and said, “computer, what is our supply count for testing equipment?”

  The computer responded, “540 cartridges. 230 swab analysis strips.”

  The Space Traveler knew that he had enough supplies and equipment for whatever he was going to face on Underlay Lask. The rebels on Lordak Pogna confiscated his two bags of testing equipment and he was unable to retrieve it when he went back. The King was too enamored by the victory and the sivle he did not dare to inquire about it. Plus, he wanted to flee the planet like a burglar out the back door. The humming and dancing were all too much!

  His mind now went back to Alegna. Sitting in her chair with her legs crossed, her hands folded at her legs. He wasn’t too sure he was down with the large alligator like tale though. It had scales and bumps all over it. Perhaps he could live with it, who knows. He did like her though and he had for many years had her in the back of his mind. She looked at him, “Inspector?” She asked.

  “Yeah. Oh, was I staring. Sorry about that,” he said and then stood up to go fix himself some pink drink. Pouring the drink from a dispenser that hung under a cabinet he said to her, “Can you keep an eye on Mizpah. I’m going to set course to warp to Underlay Lask and then I have the report to write up before I forget the details.”

  “Sure,” she answered him, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  He turned to her with his pink drink in hand, “I wish, but this is something I must do alone. Stick around after we finish the protocol on your planet and you can help me with that one.” He took a sip of his drink and he now had a pink mustache.

  She laughed, “Okay, it’s a date.”

  A date she said. He liked the sound of that. Her tale wagged back and forth behind her and he looked away. He did not like the tale he thought. He wondered if they had cosmetic s
urgery on her planet.

  He shook it off and remembered what he was going to do next. “Computer, set our course for Underlay Lask, warp speed.”

  “Course set for warp speed to Underlay Lask Captain.”

  He took another sip of the pink drink and walked to his quarters down the hallway. Alegna watched him walk away and began to think about her home world, Underlay Lask, the water planet. Now, there are no large continents on this planet, only islands that appear and disappear with the strong tides. The planet is monitored by two large moons. The gravitational attraction of the two moons causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of them. Unless you are an excellent swimmer, or a fish, you most likely will not survive on this planet. The islands of the planet are covered in lush green trees are tall and strong, the roots go deep. They must or they would be washed away with every eight-hour tide. The sea cleanses the land and the air is therefore pure and clean for all living things on the planet.

  When the waters cover the one side of the planet, the land is submerged underwater and the caverns fill up to the break point. The break point is when pressure does not allow water to fill up the caverns but traps the oxygen above original sea level. This occurrence allows the Yiskuliangs, the prime species on the planet to survive during the high tides of the day. They are not the only thinking beings here, but they are the only ones with a civilization. Soon you will be introduced to something that can think on his own and dominates the southern seas.

  The ship left warp speed and cruised through the solar system where Underlay Lask sat there with her two moons, each the size of planets. Underlay Lask is a greenish blue colored planet from space. Its star is a blue super giant, which means that it is one of the hottest stars in the Galaxy. The scientific estimate of its surface temperatures is between 20,000 and 50,000 degrees Celsius. It has a mass of around twenty times that of Earth’s Sun and gives out more light than 60,000 suns added together. Indeed, this is a massive space community where life is either teeming or non-existent. Underlay Lask is orbiting at just the perfect distance from the supergiant blue star to absorb its life-giving energy. One more fun fact, super giant stars have shorter lives than most stars, but they are visibly prominent to the naked eye up against the backdrop of other stars.

  The Space Traveler walked out of his Captain’s quarters and greeted Alegna who looked extremely bored. She inquired, “Did you finish your report?”

  “I did,” he sat down next to her, “And it wasn’t easy. You know, in these last few weeks I lost three assistants. My two droids were taken by, some sort of hybrid dlom creature, I still can’t figure that one out. And my new assistant Fretch, I believe you saw him briefly until that worm monster sucked him down into the pit on Col. I have to tell you Alegna, I have had rough week.”

  She gently touched his lap, “I understand. You have been through so much. How are you coping?”

  “Well,” he smiled, “If I had to, I would do it again.” Mizpah interrupted him as he rolled into the bridge with the song “Do it again” by Steely Dan.

  Mizpah stared at the two as they were having a moment together he did not understand. He smiled at them and sung the chorus along with the music. Alegna smiled at the synthetic being who seemed to be dancing with himself in midair. The Space Traveler could not be mad at the robot. He knew he was made to cheer up the Cudats and so he could do the same for him. The song was wonderful, the beat strong and tight, the guitar rhythms had a salsa like feel to it. He began bobbing his head and Alegna soon followed his lead. These were her first experiences with music from Earth and you will see why this would be an impossibility on her planet.

  “Captain, we are approaching Underlay Lask. Shall I report to USHA?” The ships computer asked over the loud speakers.

  “Yes computer. And please send our transmission down to the President of Underlay Lask. She is in the capital city of Fradarplez… I believe.”

  The computer responded and he turned to face Alegna who looked nervous.

  “Are we headed to the southern hemisphere?” Alegna asked him.

  The Space Traveler looked at his coordinates and replied, “Yes. Why?”

  Imagine if you will a creature the size and shape of a blue whale. He has a blow hole, weighs 200 tons and is 98 feet long. He has two arms and two legs with webbed hands and feet. When he walks on land is he ruler of the Yiskuliangs. When they are in the waters with him they have a chance, just like the chance sea lions have against an orca. You know how that video you watch typically turns out. The killer whale is flipping the sealion in the air like you would a pair of pants. It’s a sad thing, but everything gets eaten sooner or later, even you.

  His name is Vog. He is vile, cruel, heartless and twisted. He will eat a creature and vomit it up just for fun. He enjoys doing this to the Yiskuliangs to let them know who is still boss.

  “Vog lives there. He has tormented my people for centuries and he has no intentions of quitting,” Alegna explained as she held the window with her two hands looking down on the waters that engulfed her planet.

  “Wait a minute, I’ve been to Underlay Lask plenty of times and I have never heard of a Vog before. What is it?”

  “Vog is a being that lives in the waters. He is the size of that temple I saved you from, and he is our enemy! We have tried to destroy him many times with no avail. Every day he taunts the Yiskuliangs, my cousin’s tribe particularly. He will swoop up on the land and grab whomever he chooses, laughing and biting throwing them hundreds of feet in the sky. It is horrifying.”

  “Vog huh?” The Space Traveler said as he hit the console on his controls and spoke into the monitor, “Computer, find me Vog.”

  “No, no,” she said as she leaned over his back, holding his shoulders with her petite hands, “That is what we call him. His species is Eerieleen. He’s the last of his kind.”

  “Ok,” the Space Traveler looked at her and then back at the monitor, “Computer, find me Eerieleen.”

  The computer spun images around on the screen and finally the Eerieleen popped up. It was just as I had described earlier yet this picture was old and had Yiskuliangs in its mouth. Blood oozed out of his teeth and down the lips. Alegna turned away from the picture and said, “Our people killed them all but him. He is crafty, that’s all. We will kill him one day and Underlay Lask will be rid of that vile monster.”

  He looked at Alegna who was holding her forehead. He did not come to go whale hunting he thought. He came to provide a protocol of the dlom eradication in the caverns of Miromosk. The last thing he wanted to do after the adventure on Cudat Col was to have another adventure. He looked back at the screen of the 100-foot-long leviathan and had an idea. He knew his ship could withstand the initial pressure of the water. If he could lure Vog to his ship, perhaps he could destroy him with the engine blasts.

  Alegna turned around and faced him. “You know about the elements, here right?”

  “Of course,” he said, “I have been here many times on inspections. It’s all routine. Nothing abnormal about your planet.”

  She walked up to him as he sat in his Captain’s chair, “Nothing abnormal? My solar system is the most dangerous of them all. Our sun is fifty times larger than yours on Hibot’s. Our moons suck the tide in every eight hours causing all the land to disappear. And the sea beasts, they’re always hungry. You could go out at night in the waters and be sure you would never have been heard from again. I have lost many friends hunting that way. The sea life comes alive at night. When the large fish rest, the smaller ones come out to feed. The blanket of darkness is a security for them. But, in reality there is never a safe place in our oceans.”

  “Well, when you put it that way,” he laughed, “I haven’t spent more than a couple hours there and that is in the greenhouses, safe and humid from any large predators.”

  She leaned down into his face, grinding her teeth, which are razor sharp by the way, “The tide washes away all of the filth and eight hours later retracts. That is when Vog strikes.
”

  “And you’re telling me there are no more, what are they called again, aliens on your planet?”

  “Eerieleens. Yes, we wiped most of them out of existence. He is the only one left and we must destroy him if we can.” She stood up from his face and walked away toward the window looking out into the darkness of space as they approached the planet.

  “It’s is a small planet you know, half the size of Hibot’s. Life should not thrive here, but it does. It is a remarkable place and to me, it is home. I have survived here for thirty years and I plan on another thirty. But there is a reason we are all here Inspector.” She turned to face him again, “But it is up to you, to decide our fate.”

  He stood up and shook his head, “No, no, not me. I’m not the leader type you need. I am a dlom Inspector and from what the Chancellor thinks, not the most qualified to save your planet. I don’t even think your planet needs saving.”