by Aline Riva
Shyra -K1
By
Aline Riva
Shyra-K1 by Aline Riva
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
A Kindle Original 2017
Copyright ©Aline Riva 2017
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this publication be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
A word from the author to the reader:
When I wrote Au197 in Autumn 2016, it was my first venture into the world of extreme horror. And the book went to Number One and that was enough reward, but I also enjoyed the blend of themes very much, so on seeing more potential in the world of aliens, horror and sex and gore, I found, being a writer of both horror and scifi genres, that it was a perfect blend to write more in this sub genre - I decided it would be a series. So along came Shyra-K1, another venture into the sick and twisted world of the space madness suffered by Mack and Jinx and the others, taking the story onward to the up coming third Book:
The Cosmic Inferno Series, Book 3: S69Q-1.
There was a whole year between writing books one and two but book three is already in progress and is coming soon!
So, Book three is on the way. I hope Books 1 and 2 are enjoyed! Jinx will be back in the third book and there is a glimpse of Book 3 at the end of this book. Enjoy Shyra-K1, and here's to even more of it with the third instalment, lovers of horror and depravity - in the mean time, keep fighting the good fight between sanity and the void...and if you can't, Adapt and Survive...
~ Aline Riva ~
Shyra -K1
Chapter 1
“Are you ready for a trip to the stars?”
As he spoke into his cell phone Harvey Russel was smiling. He was standing at the docking bay of London's vast Air Space Terminal, for miles stretched rows of majestic looking space cruisers and shuttles, further up the other end were the real dream machines, the vast luxury space cruisers, deluxe and majestic and gleaming...
Then his gaze shifted back to the modest, dark metallic cruiser with the large rounded thrusters and the ripples that ran up the sides of its bodywork that looked like plated armour. It was an Amaryllis Space Series Mark One, two grades down and smaller than a Pharaoh Two, he had been considering a Pharaoh but the price range had been out of reach and the Amaryllis was the only vessel he could easily purchase thanks to a private buyer who shoved the papers in his hand, took his money and told him he was glad to be rid of it, because he had wanted to upgrade for a long time. But at the age of twenty-six, it was Harvey's first ship and as long as it took him to the stars he was happy with it – he would finally be up there and if Janey was impressed, it would be a double bonus. He had been crazy about her for months. Where better to let her know that than up there, amongst the stars?
As she spoke in reply confirming she was on her way, he smiled again as his blue eyes sparkled.
“I'm at docking bay nineteen,” he said.
“Isn't that were they stick the really small shuttles?” she asked.
He laughed.
“It's an Amaryllis, Janey. It's retro, it's vintage.”
“And that sounds great. I'll see you soon,” she replied, then she ended the call and he slipped the phone into the pocket of his flight suit.
Harvey turned to the reflective glass, ignoring the bustle of people coming and going as they made their way in and out of the departures and arrivals area, looking to the glass, seeing reflected a young man with light brown hair and sky blue eyes. He had often been told he was a good looking guy, but he had never really thought so until now, with that ship behind him at the dock – his ship....
His excitement was mounting as he thought of the moment when the vessel cut through the skies and went out into darkness punctured by stars. Then he looked down at the paperwork in his hands and frowned. There was just one small problem, and he was desperately hoping a friend would solve it as promised...
“Where are you?” he muttered, checking his watch.
Then he thought of how his basic space flight license had almost been turned down – and still could be – if the man who had serviced the vessel and offered to be co pilot after answering his ad didn't come back with a stamp on that blue paper, no one would be flying anywhere...
He had warmed to Drake Wolf from the moment they had met, he was in his forties, an experienced pilot and had worked on many vessels over the years. He had been flying for more years than Harvey had been alive, working as an on board space flight engineer and then becoming a co pilot, then piloting vessels for cargo companies and space tour cruisers. And he had a warm and friendly manner and the two of them had found instant friendship. Drake had been very reassuring about how well the flight would go, promising to help out if he needed a hand.
And he certainly needed help now. Tightened up flight laws had meant his two years of learning to fly at A Grade standard on a space flight simulation course meant nothing without the ten required practical co pilot flights needed to prove what was realistic on the ground was practical in space. With tech advances, it had been accepted for many years that space flight could be accurately and effectively taught in simulation, but that had all changed recently following some nasty accidents involving crash landings and an in space collision just outside of earth's atmosphere and laws had been tightened up. But Drake had said he could sort that and Drake was good at sorting problems...
“Got it!”
Harvey breathed a relieved sigh as Drake walked towards him, paperwork in his hand. The older man was tall and slim, but toned and clearly in good shape despite being the later side of forty. His dark brown hair was neatly combed and his pale blue gaze was filled with warmth as usual as he handed over the paperwork.
“Computer system's updated and the blue paper has been stamped. I told them you did your practical with me, but the flight records must have got mislaid over the electronic system...I showed them my paperwork and my glowing space flight record and they believed me. Now you have to pay me to get a contact to mock up what they need within three months or your license is revoked until proof can be handed over...don't worry, I know a man who can do that for a reasonable fee. I've seen your grades on the simulator report, I'm not scared to go up there with you – and if you get in trouble, I can easy grab the controls and take over, she's a single pilot bird anyway – a sparrow, compared to some that fly up there.”
“Did they say anything about your name being on the vessel service report?” Harvey asked.
Drake smiled as a crafty gleam came to his eye.
“I serviced under a company name – bought it online especially for the occasion. It was dirt cheap. Don't worry, eleven years of tuning up vessels is more than enough for me to know what I'm doing – and that was in the old days. Working on a ship like yours was like going back in time! Very easy ship to service.”
Harvey smiled back.
“You have no idea how much confidence you inspire, my friend.”
“I try my best,” Drake replied, then he looked away as a young woman called to Harvey and his eyes lit up in a way that told him, this had to be the girl he was crazy about. Drake cast sideways glance, took in the sight of a curvy figure, long dark hair and green eyes, knowing at once this was Janey. Then he looked to the ship, his back turned as Harvey greeted his friends.
“Is this the ship?” Janey exclaimed, and Harvey was relieved to notice she seemed impressed.
His best fri
end was less excited as he stood there in a flight suit, Tyler DeWinter was taller and heavier than Harvey with dark hair and eyes, and he stood there casting a doubtful look towards the Amaryllis.
“She's basic, but she'll do!” then he laughed and so did Harvey.
“Even basic ships can run into trouble, good thing I'm here,” added his other paid staff - Ms Lola Voss, who was a mechanic with three years flight experience and a friend of Janey's who was five years older than her at thirty, with short black hair and deep brown eyes that shone warmly as she greeted Harvey.
“We meet again, Captain Russel. All set to go?”
He gripped the blue paper in his hand a little tighter.
“I certainly am.”
“I really hope we're going to be okay up there. It's my first flight,” added Janey's closest friend Sin as she ran her fingers nervously through blonde, bobbed hair and cast a brief glance towards the vessel. She was thirty six and almost felt embarrassed to admit in front of people who were mostly her junior – save for the co pilot – that in this age of space flight being as common as catching a bus, she had never once been up there...
“That bird can fly, rest assured you're quite safe,” said Drake as he turned to face the group.
“This is my co pilot Drake Wolf,” said Harvey.
“I've heard good things about you,” Tyler said warmly as he shook his hand, “You've worked for months to tune this beauty up!”
As the others greeted him, Sin looked nervously to the craft, then suddenly she was face to face with Drake – a moment ago that had been something of a shock as she had seen him only from the side as he had turned to look at the ship.
“And you are...?” he asked warmly.
She was still trying not to stare, he wore a metallic eye patch over his left eye, above and below it deep scars were etched into his face, the longest extending into his cheek.
“Sin Kendall, nice to meet you, Mr Drake,” she said, briefly shaking his hand.
As she moved to pull her hand away, she felt a brief second of resistance, then saw a sparkle in his eye.
“You really don't have to worry about being up there,”he assured her, “It's safer than plane flight these days. Space travel has quite an impressive safety record. And so do I.”
She smiled back at him, as he let go of her hand she glanced to Harvey, who was laughing with Tyler as they used the fingerprint scanner then walked over to the open hatch of the vessel. As she looked back at Drake she felt a jolt, then she dismissed it:
She was sure he had still been looking at her, even when she had turned away... No, it had to be her imagination. He seemed like a nice guy...Maybe she was just nervous, or maybe he fancied her. Which was no bad thing, he was an attractive man despite his scars, and those scars didn't mean she had reason not to trust him – that was ridiculous - there was no red flag here, just her, very nervous and unsure, about to take off and fly away from the planet where she had lived all her life...Which was slightly too much to think about...
As she went through the scanner followed by Janey and Lola, Drake lingered back, sliding a device from his pocket, then quickly swiping it across the scanner.
“You used an electronic fingerprint?” Harvey said in surprise as Drake joined the others by the open hatch.
Drake put the device back in his flight suit and shrugged.
“It's the thought of how many people use those things every day – and they don't wipe them down as often as they should!”
“You don't seem the type to worry about stuff like that,” Harvey remarked.
Drake laughed.
“Believe me, I do. Now, shall we get this bird in the air?”
“I can't wait to get up there!” Harvey replied, then he went through the open hatch and the others followed. Drake went in last, paused to glance back at the busy terminal, then he sealed the hatch tightly.
“This is Amaryllis, confirming set to go,” said Harvey as he reached to the overhead controls and flipped some switches. The view of the seemingly endless runway ahead of him made him feel almost dizzy with the thrill of his first flight, his hand shook as he keyed in the take off sequence.
Drake, sat beside him, briefly touched the back of his hand, then smiled reassuringly.
“Airspace is cleared, have a nice flight, Amaryllis,” said the voice that came through the comm system.
“We will, thank you ground control,” replied Drake, then as he hit the final controls that sent the thrusters powering up and shaking the vessel, he glanced to Harvey.
“I'll take her up, then you take over, does that sound good?”
“Please,” Harvey replied, aware he was breaking out into a sweat, because it was suddenly a very big deal to be flying this ship away from the planet and into the vastness of space for the very first time.
The others would never know just how much Drake had helped him out, because this ship had separate cockpit space, the rest of the group were in a small room behind it, strapped in and ready for take off – and the doors were closed. He flipped a switch, changing piloting controls to Drake, then the ship began to slide rapidly down the runway, behind them heavy metal doors had closed, blocking the view of the terminal they had left behind and in moments the ship was in the air, heading skyward, then cutting through cloud and finally, bursting through into inky blackness, where earth was turning far behind them and only starlight led the way.
After a long while watching as endless starlight slipped past, Drake broke the silence.
“There's nowhere else like it, no peace like it either,” he said.
Harvey blinked, the starlight still reflecting in his eyes as he replied without tearing his gaze from it.
“This is even better than I imagined...you're right, there's nothing like it...I feel like I want to stay up here forever.”
Drake looked down to see a red light on the lower control panel flashing. He pressed a finger on the button below it, a long press, cancelling out the signal and the message from ground control. As Harvey turned his head and a flicker of alarm registered in his eyes, Drake kept his finger on the button as he smiled.
“No worries, just a ghost.”
“Ghost? But that was the emergency line, message sent out on red alert -”
“It was a ghost!” Drake chuckled, “These old ships, they can fly well enough but their communications systems pick up on anything and everything out there – the further we get from earth, the more the system reaches deeper into space. That was probably another ship's captain telling us to get the hell off his open channel!”
That look of concern was gone from Harvey's eyes as he took in the reassurance of his words.
“I'm glad you told me that, I thought we had a serious problem!”
Drake smiled as warmth shone in his eye as the light reflected off the metallic patch that covered his blind side.
“No problems here, mate...I know what I'm doing and so will you by the time we get back – you're a good pilot,you just need the experience. By the way, I've plotted us a slightly longer route for the trip – we've enough fuel, no harm in making the most of it. There's a couple of lovely planets out there I thought we might visit – one's an earth colony the other, I think, is uninhabited, but both are like unspoiled earth. Imagine that, gardens of Eden!”
“Only if you do the first descent and I do the next take off,” said Harvey.
Drake nodded.
“Deal,” he agreed.
“It's not that I'm unsure, it's just that -”
“I know,” Drake said with great understanding, “You just want to watch me first time, even though you've rehearsed it a thousand times.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
Drake laughed as he indicated to the closed hatch.
“Put her on auto pilot, she's at top speed – this old crate can go a lot faster than some of the later models, and we're out of earth range jurisdiction now so sod their safety recommendations – that's all they are out here,
suggestions. I fine tuned this machine to glide at top speed – like I said when I did the refit, let them do the inspection first, then I'll add the real power unit. There's no difference between this ship at full speed or a turbo cruiser, it's all down to parts, not the shell that's wrapped around it.”
“Better not say that in front of the others, they might get nervous,” Harvey reminded him, “And Lola Voss, she's had ships engineering experience, don't tell her - she might go running to safety standards control.”
“On other planets where we've colonised,” Drake replied, “They don't have all this bullshit about speed and energy levels and limitations on makes and models, as long as the engines and the power units and the shields are up to standard, it's all good. Earth should take note of that, more people are buying off world these days to get around the restrictions.”
Harvey thought back to his conversation with Drake when they had planned the refurbishment. At first, he had been unsure about Drake getting around so many safety rules – but after learning many pilots did the same he had agreed to the plan and now as they glided through the dark, star strewn eternity that stretched in front of them, he was glad he had listened to the older, experienced man who had quickly become a friend.
“I don't think I'd be up here now if it wasn't for you” he said, “Thanks, Drake.”
“She's on auto,” Drake replied, flipping a switch then pausing to check a star map, “Let's leave her to fly.”
“Good plan,” Harvey replied, and the two men unbuckled their safety belts and got up, heading for the door that led to the rest of the vessel.
As the door slid back and they entered the passenger area, where the small group were still seated, Drake spoke up first.
“You can all get up and take a walk about now,” he said, “Through that door behind you is a walkway with viewing ports, you will find doors leading off the other side of the walkway to accommodation and the door at the end of the walkway leads to a large communal area with comfortable seating and a dining area. Anything beyond that is cargo, emergency escape pods and of course the engine rooms - which no one can enter except for me. And I did absolutely nothing on the way up here, but I did watch as Harvey made a fantastic take off. You're a good pilot, Captain Russel.”
