The Definitive SpaceFed Trilogy (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy).: A thrilling, action-packed Sci-fi space adventure. (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 8)

by Gerry A. Saunders

  “I’m going to have a look at it.”

  “OK. The service droids have finished repairing the hole, so by the time you get there, the cabin will have been re-pressurised.”

  “What about its occupant?”

  “Nothing yet. But I’m picking up strobe discrepancies, so hopefully, not very long.”

  “Fine,” he said, turning to speak to Tom.

  “I assume you’ll be giving her an injection to bring her around?”

  “Yes. She should be conscious in about ten minutes. But she’ll have a bad headache.”

  Tom looked at Jonathan, then grinning, said, “I think the boy wants to stay a while, Frank.”

  “Why not,” Frank replied, then turned and stepped out into the corridor.

  “She’ll be okay Sues, give her fifteen minutes. Jonathan’s staying for a while.”

  “Yea, he’s a great guy, and good at drone control.”

  “Not matchmaking, are we?”

  “Who, me?”

  “Yes, you,” he replied, grinning. “I’m going to see the Solveron’s escape pod. Do you want to come?”

  “Yes. I’d like to see it.”

  He beckoned to one of the marines to follow them.

  The alien pod was about two and a half metres long, but only 600 cm diameter. It had been dusted with a light coating, to disable the pod’s stealth function. But gas, necessary for the occupant’s survival, was still issuing from a small outlet.

  On the nose of the pod were six of the now familiar, tiny spheres which were mounted on forward facing angled brackets.

  “So that’s how the pod penetrated our hull. A molecular co-adhesion disrupter. Crude, but effective, and there’s no visible sign of the pod’s drive. Anyway, the tech teams will take it apart, so it’ll be interesting to see what they find.”

  A sliding section of the pod’s casing was open, seemingly the access point, ready and waiting for the pod’s occupant to return.

  Looking inside, they could see a flat cushioned area and four buttons mounted on the pod’s wall next to a small square display panel.

  Then both looked at the Solveron’s pod again and seeing nothing more of interest went back to Jenny’s cabin.

  When they entered Jenny’s cabin twenty minutes later, they were pleased to see her sitting up and sipping a hot beverage.

  Susanna gave her a quick hug. “Glad you’re back with us.”

  “So am I. But, I can’t remember what happened. I think I felt a prick in my arm, then nothing.”

  “Glad you are safe Jenny,” Frank added.

  “Thank you,” she said. Then looked long and hard at him, apparently thinking it through.

  “I think…yes, I can vaguely remember looking down on you,” she added, with her speech seeming slow and hesitant.

  “That’s probably a memory interchange,” Tom suggested.

  “You might have more of its memory than you think.”

  “Jenny, make a note of anything that you remember,” Susanna advised.

  “Tom, it’s important that we establish the properties of the gas, coming out of that survival pod,” Frank said. “Just in case, we find the Solveron.”

  “Already done. We’re ready if we find it alive.”

  Andromeda suddenly interrupted them.

  ‘Frank, we’ve got the Solveron,” she said. With her voice coming in on his transceiver.

  ‘We de-activated its stealth system as well, it was housed in a little box with some sort of protective skin.’

  ‘Excellent. Are the wrecked Solveron ships any risk to us?’

  ‘No risk at all, thankfully. But that’s only because we used two Nukes. Now, just their skeletal frames are left, and all the other debris is still flying away from us.’

  ‘Good, we can use speech now. Where’s the Solveron?’

  “The Solveron’s in a protected cell, with four angry marines outside.”

  “OK. Ask Tim and Ned to meet us there. I’ll bring Tom and Susanna.”

  “Will do, Frank. Tom seems to have produced the right environment for the Solveron, by the way. His atmospheric reading of the escape pod was spot on. The Solveron doesn’t appear to notice any difference, in fact; the atmosphere is very like ours.”

  He looked at Jenny. “Will you be all right? Only I need Tom and Susanna to come and see the Solveron with me.”

  “It’s OK. Go, all of you. I’ll be fine.”

  “Jonathan could stay for a while longer,” Susanna said, winking at Jenny.

  “I’ll be happy to stay if that’s OK?” Jonathan replied.

  “Yes. You can stay, again.” Frank said, smiling wryly.

  “Come on you two,” he ordered, and the three of them silently hurried off to see the Solveron in his secure cell.

  ‘Andromeda, update all other ships with the situation,’ Frank ordered. ‘Tell them we still hope to make the next jump in twelve hours.

  Remember, when I try to talk to the Solveron, I may need to disable my transceiver link some of the time in case the Solveron has an organic, or stealth transceiver in, or on him.

  Oh, and another thing, Susanna and I won’t be using our transceivers to connect with you so you’ll need to record everything, and act on anything suspicious.’

  ‘Understood, Frank.’

  On reaching the prisoner’s cell, they were checked by the Marines before being allowed to look at him through the atom glass window.

  The Solveron wasn’t at all what they expected.

  The alien was just over a metre high, with his short arms and legs showing through an almost transparent suit. His head looked a little similar to a Crillon’s but was slightly smaller, and he had a thin-lipped mouth and creamy skin, which made him look very vulnerable.

  ‘I will have you, Earthman,’ came the creatures mental thought. Punching through Frank’s transceiver implant, like a knife.

  Chapter 12

  The Solverons.

  The Solveron had surprised Frank by saying the words, ‘I will have you, Earthman.’ It wasn’t the words themselves, but the fact that they hadn’t found a transceiver implant on, or inside the Solveron when Andromeda had scanned him.

  Still, the Solveron had been able to use the human’s implants, so it seemed logical that the Solveron would also have been able to use the Pavonisien implants.

  The Solveron had been staring at Frank for a few moments before Frank attempted to talk with him.

  ‘The air we are giving you was sampled from your escape pod. Is it satisfactory for your needs?’ Frank asked.

  ‘Yes, and the air that you breathe would have served just as well.’

  ‘Why are you attacking us?’

  After a few seconds, the Solveron replied.

  ‘You fight the Crillons. Yet you also help them. You are unpredictable Earthman.’

  Frank knew that anyone close by could pick up any conversation on their transceiver implants. And, it was also obvious that the Solverons could translate the human lingo.

  Frank, then ‘thought’ hard, until his implant became inactive.

  He was hoping that, without the use of his transceiver, the connection with Andromeda would still be working. He also hoped that the Solveron hadn’t picked up his ‘cancel transceiver’ thought-command.

  Testing the situation, he ‘thought’ his next question to the Solveron.

  ‘We do not kill unless we are attacked. Why do you?’

  Only Susanna heard his question. She nodded. Just enough for him to notice the acknowledgement. Then, a confirmation ‘thought’ message was also received from Andromeda.

  None of his crew or the Solveron showed any sign of receiving his thoughts.

  He repeated the ‘thought’ message.

  ‘We do not kill unless we are attacked. Why do you?’

  The Solveron still looked blank, as he waited for Frank’s response.

  Frank ‘thought’ the transceiver link back on again, then repeated the question for the third time.

&nbs
p; As soon as the Solveron heard the question, Frank quickly ‘thought’ the link off again and heard the Solveron’s reply. He was pleased. There was no need for him to use the transceiver’s link.

  ‘You helped the Crillons, so you are our enemy.’

  ‘You were not paying attention. We destroyed many Crillon ships.’

  ‘But you helped them.’

  ‘Only those who had changed their ideas for the better. We sent them back to their planet for them to change their leader’s actions.’

  ‘They will never change Earthman.’

  ‘We believe they will. We do not wish to fight you.’

  ‘You have destroyed four of our ships… You are our enemy.’

  ‘You attacked us with fifty of your small blue globes. What did you expect us to do?’

  The Solveron was silent for a moment, pondering his situation.

  ‘It may be possible that we have misjudged you,’ he replied, then moved closer to the viewing window looking solemn.

  ‘Your transceiver is not active Earthman… Do you not need it?’

  ‘No. Not all of us need one. Where is yours?’

  ‘Bingo,’ he thought as an image of its location flashed through his mind. He thought about it, and although not sure decided to push his luck.

  ‘Your ships, like ours, do not show propulsion units. Why?’

  Again, the Solveron’s mind gave the information away. In the form of schematics showing details of four, enormous warp cores. Which, with the four cores working together, would provide better accuracy of direction, with greater operating range than the Earth ships could achieve.

  He knew Andromeda was still recording everything, so continued.

  ‘Your escape pod was damaged, so how will you get back to your planet?’

  There was a slight change in the Solveron. But even so Frank’s mind was able to see a picture of a ship coming for the Solveron. The ship was obviously on its way, and very close. He also thought he saw the Kepler star system.

  The Solveron looked puzzled.

  ‘You have been getting information from me, Earthman. You seem to be able to destroy our ships, which the Crillons can’t.

  I sense that you can read my mind. You are very dangerous, so what else should I know about you?’

  Frank was determined he wasn’t going to fall for that line, or give anything away. So, carefully ‘thought,' of beams of energy leaving the Earth ships, and of the resultant devastation to the three Solveron ships. Deliberately aiming his thoughts at the Solveron, thus providing him with false information.

  ‘So, your rescue ship will be here soon,’ Frank said.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘We will not allow your ship to come close to ours. But we can transfer you to your vessel, using one of our force-craft.’

  ‘You intend to let me return to my species?’

  ‘Of course, I meant what I said. We do not want to fight you. We are not your enemy unless you want us to be.’

  The Solveron was silent again for a moment.

  ‘Then we shall not fight you. Unless we have to.’

  ‘That is all I want.’

  ‘I sense you are still going to the Crillon’s planet. Why?’

  ‘As I said, to make sure their leaders have changed their warlike ways. We do not want them to return to this sector unless they return peacefully.’

  ‘Then we shall not interfere. But we will monitor you, Earthman.’

  ‘That is fine.’

  ‘The Crillons are not known to keep their word,’ the Solveron warned him.

  An image immediately flashed into Frank’s mind, showing a room with Crillons and Solverons sitting together around a table.

  Then another picture, as some of the Crillons, stood up drew their weapons then fired them, and the room filled with red mist.

  The Solveron waited, knowing Frank would have seen the images of the assassination in his mind.

  ‘Be careful, human. Or are you Frank?’

  ‘We are humans, and my name is Frank. What is your name, in our language?’

  ‘Savron,’ he said. ‘Like you, I had command of many ships.’

  ‘I’m sorry about that, Savron.’

  Suddenly, Frank felt Savron’s excitement as the Solveron ship dropped into normal space, just two kilometres away from theirs.

  Savron was silent for about a minute before he spoke.

  ‘I have taken great pains to convey to my ship what happened here. Mine will stay where it is, and I will allow you to transport me to it.’

  ‘Very well. Andromeda, please prepare a force-craft.”

  ‘Yes Commander,’ came her voice.

  Savron seemed bewildered. ‘Your ship speaks to you?’

  ‘Yes. Doesn’t yours?’

  An image of a sad ship came to Frank’s mind.

  ‘No, my vessel is not able to converse with us. Yours seems more like a one of the crew.’

  ‘Yes, it’s a bonus for us. Do we need a separate air supply, Savron?’

  ‘No. Our ship will open a portal to an environment set to suit your race. But your force-craft must return to your ship as soon as I am off it.’

  ‘Very well,’ Frank said as he gestured to the marines to open the cell door.

  And so, a strange group, consisting of the five humans, together with one small Solveron surrounded by the four Marines, all walked down the corridor to the holding bay.

  The force-craft was waiting inside the holding bay, with Jenny sitting in the pilot’s seat.

  To their surprise, Jenny wasn’t wearing her body armour. She was dressed in a white blouse, blue slacks and dark blue shoes and was smiling at them. They were glad to see that she appeared to have recovered from her ordeal.

  Frank and Susanna, noticing that Jonathan was standing to one side of Jenny’s vehicle, and close to her, couldn’t help smiling at each other.

  Frank and Savron walked up to the craft.

  “I apologise for your discomfort,” Savron said to Jenny.

  ‘Accepted,’ she said with a smile.

  Turning to Frank, Savron then said. ‘We will monitor the results of your endeavour. But if things turn out as I believe they will. We will remove the Crillons once and for all.’

  ‘I understand you completely Savron. But, what if we need you?’

  ‘We will know.’

  ‘Then, good luck.’

  ‘It will be you that needs the luck, Frank.’

  With that, Savron stepped onto the platform and the craft’s force-field immediately activated.

  The rest of them waved to Jenny and walked back to the protected area of the ship, as the holding bay door closed, and the bay depressurised.

  Its outer door then opened and Jenny left, heading towards the Solveron ship.

  As they approached the Solveron’s blue globe ship, a small circular portal appeared in its hull, the portal shining brightly like a beacon.

  Jenny, with her craft’s sensors and recorders running, guided it through the ship’s entrance and stopped about ten metres inside the opening, as the door closed. The area then started to pressurise. Providing an environment to suit Jenny’s needs, as Savron had promised.

  Once the area was pressurised, Jenny dropped her craft’s force-field to allow Savron to step off.

  He turned to thank her, then headed towards the Solverons who had been waiting for him.

  The Solverons left the area and closed the separation seal. Then, on a signal, Jenny activated the craft’s force-field and waited for the exit portal to open.

  Meanwhile, Savron’s group remained behind the protective screen and watched her lift off, then turn and glide swiftly out into space.

  Jenny was about halfway back to Andromeda, before the Solveron ship’s door closed, and it moved further away from the Earth ships.

  A swirl formed in front of the Solveron’s globe-ship then turned into an enormous jet-black hole.

  The Solveron ship moved forward and was gone.

  Cha
pter 13

  Kepler’s Rift.

  Kasosko was enjoying the full support of his Senate and found it easy to agree with Commander Tripicac’s suggestions for a way forward. He was sure that Tripicac had a better understanding of what was necessary than any other officer in the Navy.

  Kasosko had also replaced the senator who had been killed by a slither of glass that had cut his throat during the Solveron attack.

  There was one thing he had forgotten to do, however. He should have promoted Commander Arans to become a Fleet Commander, and he soon put that right.

  Meanwhile, Tripicac, Arans and Tarcan had exercised their newfound power, in increasing their battle groups to five ships each by rearranging the remaining Battlecruisers that were still near Kepler.

  In the process upsetting some of their Commanders, and the High Command, by by-passing their authority.

  Tarcan was also charged with protecting Crilla, their home planet. While Arans defended the space-station, along with Tapin, one of their satellite moons, where the Crillon’s starship construction facility was based.

  That left Tripicac free to check on the rift that was forming in the area of the natural wormhole. The Crillons were hoping that the rift, already nine light years deep, would eventually re-establish their natural wormhole.

  There were only twenty-seven operational Battlecruisers remaining at Crilla, plus six more that were being manufactured at Tapin, together with the mapping ship at the wormhole location. So, now, Space Marshal Trendor, head of the Navy, could only count on twelve until more of the ships returned from their missions in deep space.

  By the time, Commander’s Tarcan and Arans had checked that all their ships crews were loyal. Tripicac was ready to leave for the rift at Kepler, some 340 thousand kilometres from their home planet.

  His crews were the best, but he would only need three ships, for now, so he loaned the other two to Tarcan.

  Then, realising it would take about six hours to reach the rift, Tripicac relayed the coordinates and sync time to his other two ships, then commenced the countdown. Thinking while he waited that it was about time they had a better sub-light drive.