The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle

by John Thornton

  “How did we get here?” Paul repeated. “The teleporter failed, and…”

  Gretchen placed her hand over his mouth. “Paul, we need to assess where we are and why we are here.”

  Paul nodded his understanding. He too swung his body out of the bed and noticed that he had only a light robe on. He looked around and his RAM clothing was lying on a stand by the bed. It was folded and clean. “My old clothes?”

  “Replacement clothing is more like it,” Gretchen said. “The Dome 17 clothing I had was in tatters, and this is brand new. Looks identical to the radiation absorbing materials we had when we came here.” She slipped her shirt and pants on over the fresh underwear which had been in the pile. She folded up her own light robe and laid it on the stand by her side of the bed. The shoes fit perfectly as she placed them on her feet.

  “I hope we never need RAM clothing again,” Paul said as he too dressed in the new clothing.

  A desk sat on the other side of the room with two comfortable chairs in front of it. Paul noted it had a line of equipment on it, all in neat and tidy order. He then looked out the window. A reddish brown bird was strutting along on the ground. It had strange red flaps of flesh on its head. It made the crowing noise again. There was a field of vegetables growing just beyond the walking path.

  “A chicken, right?” Gretchen said.

  “We are in that place where we met those children, and Brenda,” Paul said. “It had an odd name, Terragora something.”

  “Terragora Investigation and Evolution,” Gretchen replied. “If I recall correctly. It smells great here. Fresh, clean air. How good is that?”

  Paul picked up the communication link from the desk and placed it on his ear. “Tiffany? Tiffany, please answer.”

  There was no reply.

  Gretchen tried hers as well, but it too failed to elicit a response. “I cannot even connect to you on this communication link.”

  “Great. Now we have equipment failures,” Paul said. He then recalled Tiffany’s parting words. He saw that there were two multiceivers sitting on the desk. He could not tell which had been Victor’s as they both were spotlessly clean and new looking. He was also not overly familiar with their design since they were Vanguard technology. His eye caught sight of three buttons just below the display screen which had words engraved in them.

  “Brinley, and Larissa? Gretchen, there is a button labeled for each of them,” Paul stated. “The last one on this one is labeled ‘Gretchen’ so it must be mine.”

  “That was not on Victor’s multiceiver,” Gretchen said as she stepped over to him. She lifted the other multiceiver and it had three buttons as well, but the last one was marked ‘Paul’. “And look at the side of it? There is a sliding lever there with ‘Doctor Chambers’ written on it.”

  “Tiffany must have made these. That girl Rika said there was something from Tiffany. It is one of the last things I remember before I woke up here.”

  “She did say that. So try it,” Gretchen said. She took a huge breath in and held it for a moment. As she let it out her smile widened.

  “None are marked ‘Tiffany’ I wonder why?” Paul said.

  “Try it Paul. Or do you want me to be the first?” Gretchen asked.

  Paul lifted his multiceiver and pressed the button marked, ‘Brinley’. He was not sure what he expected.

  A light came on illuminating the display. The word, ‘Connecting’ flashed several times.

  Brinley’s face lit up the display screen.

  “Paulie! You are alive! This is amazing!” Brinley squealed with joy. Her wide toothy smile was bigger than Gretchen or Paul had seen before. Her large expressive hazel eyes were moist with tears of joy. “Gretchen, I see you there too! This is almost too good to believe. I got the modified multiceiver from the gravity conduit, along with the note from Tiffany, but I have not been able to connect to you until now.”

  “Brinley, it is good to see you,” Gretchen said.

  “Do you know what happened?” Paul asked.

  “Oh wow, Paulie, where do I begin? The Jellies have pushed us completely out of Oasis. The fighting has been horrific and we….” Brinley started to explain.

  “I mean about us and our escape?” Paul said with some shame creeping into his voice. “I should have had you come when we made the connection. I am embarrassed to say I would have left without you.”

  “Paulie, I would not have gone along, no matter what,” Brinley said. “This is my home, and we are fighting for survival.” Her smile dimmed for a minute. “I am just so thrilled that you are alive!”

  The display screen split into two parts. Larissa’s face appeared on the other side.

  “Larissa?” Paul asked.

  “Yes, I just connected in. If you require privacy on a multiceiver, just tell the machine to make it a private connection,” Larissa answered. Her light blond hair was neatly arranged in an intricate braid. Her icy blue eyes peered at Paul. “It is pleasing to know the Jellies have not killed either of you. We need everyone we can get in this fight.”

  “Larissa, the CPO is all androids,” Gretchen said. “We did not find any humans at all in the needle ship.”

  “We failed in our escape attempt, and I fear we lost Tiffany,” Paul related.

  “Indeed, there is much to talk about,” Larissa said.

  “Paulie and Gretchen, Larissa and I have made plans, but we need your help. We have triangulated your position, and we will devise a way to get to you,” Brinley said. “It is essential that we all work together.”

  “What?” Paul muttered.

  “We are on our way. Just remain where you are until we come,” Brinley said. “We have been waiting and hoping you survived.”

  The display screen went dark.

  “I guess our adventures here on the Vanguard are not over,” Gretchen said and she hugged Paul tightly.

  “I was afraid of that,” Paul said.

  The End

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  John Thornton lives with his wife in or on or around the Northern Plains. He shares his home with two dogs who love smelling for rabbits, and a single ancient cat. This patrol cat was separated from his older brother when the elder cat successfully built a teleportation sending pad and escaped from this world. Farewell and goodbye my dear friend.

  Defending the Vanguard

  (Book 7 of the Colony Ship Vanguard series)

  John Thornton

  Copyright © 2014 John Thornton

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13:

  978-1502851970

  ISBN-10:

  1502851970

  DEDICATION

  To my wonderful wife, daughters, and son in laws. You have had to put up with my unusual ideas and strange mannerisms for years, and yet you still love me. Thanks

  The above section has a secret message. So just jack a fusion pack in and see what is revealed here.

  Thanks for reading my books. Check out the Colony Ship Eschaton series. Happy reading.

  This is a work of fiction. As if I really have to tell you that, right?

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Cover art by Jon Hrubesch

  I hope you enjoy this book!

  1 the woods

  “Myrtle my dear, the trees are so pretty as they begin blooming. I am eager to see them flowering,” the older man said as the couple walked along.

  “Yes, Oliver, I have always liked to see the trees when they are blooming,” the older woman replied. “The smells are so nice and sweet.”

  They were walking hand in hand along a well tended trail made from crushed stones. It was so firmly packed it was easy to walk upon. The bright light of the sky tube far overhead filtered down through the leaves of the trees and made the habitat glow in light and warmth.

  A bird with blue-gray feathers on its head over a white band of feather around its neck flew past. It had black tips on its blue wings, and a light colored belly. It gave a loud, harsh rattle as it settled prominently on a branch which
reached far out over the water of the river.

  “I will have to slow down a bit,” Oliver said as he limped on his leg. His sparse gray hair was short and his nearly bald head was tan. He bent over to rub the back of his calf. His arm had the C mark on it, but the C was wrinkled and faded a bit. It had been there for many decades.

  “That leg of yours,” Myrtle remarked as she had numerous times. “I guess we can both rest by sitting on the bench.” Her hair was as gray as her companion’s but was much thicker.

  The couple sat on the permalloy bench which was taupe colored and angled at a comfortable degree to fit their old bodies. They looked over and down the gentle grassy slope that led to the river. There were a number of ducks that were waddling around on the river bank, and a flight of geese which flew in and landed as they watched.

  “Oh, yes, that is better,” Oliver said as he extended his leg out. “Is it me or did this walking trail just get longer.”

  “It is you. You are the one who wanted to live a half kilometer from the mill and village on the road to Tula,” Myrtle replied with a laugh. “It is me too. I agreed! I cannot count how many times we have walked along this path together.”

  “I always think of the time when Hugo was born,” Oliver said wistfully. His brown eyes misted over a bit.

  The elderly woman chuckled. “My water broke just down the way a bit. It seemed like a long walk back to the medical center in Tula that day.”

  “Yes, that was way before we moved out here. If the baby had come when we were in Tula it would have been easier. Do you ever wonder what Hugo would have been like had the Outbreak not taken him?” Oliver asked.

  “What makes you ask such a question now? That was sixty-five years ago.”

  “Well Myrtle, with all the talk lately about the smugglers and the other strange things, I was just thinking,” Oliver answered.

  “You were just gossiping with those other old men you breakfast with at the pub. Yes, if I say so myself, it is all gossip. Was this from that Theodore character? He is always letting his words run way faster than his mind,” Myrtle commented. “Not that outrunning his mind is any feat of success. That man is just plain slow.”

  “Myrtle we were all talking, yes that is true. Who else am I supposed to talk to? I cannot very well walk that five kilometers into Tula just to socialize can I? And the six men who have breakfast together are my friends, but I agree with you about Theodore, he is one dull stump. I wish he had not moved out here from Tula when he got old. They were all saying that there might be a new Outbreak, and all this talk and the actions of the authorities is about that. Well, so I thought of our Hugo and being here made me ask you.”

  “Theodore is a dull stump all right, but he is a far sight better than that wife Judy he had. Now she was one quarrelsome and bitter woman,” Myrtle said. “Now I remember a time when that Judy came over and just started to rant and rave at me…”

  “Please do not malign the dead, after all she is probably still quarreling from the grave,” Oliver gave Myrtle a smile. “My dear, I know it is painful, but can we talk about Hugo? It is important to me that we talk.”

  “Well, Oliver, certainly we can talk about that boy of ours. I can still see his cute little brown face looking up at us after he was born. I never thought I could love someone as much as I did Hugo. A mother feels that way about her first born, you know, no matter how short his life might be. All the ladies tell me that, even the young mothers with today’s children. Why just the other day I saw Allison, you know, that woman who makes crafts? Well I was at the bizarre in Tula and she was carrying her little baby, and I said to her….”

  “Myrtle, you are an expert at changing the subject, I know you have not walked all the way to Tula for a long time, and from what I hear Allison’s children are in school now. So, I want to know what you think would have happened had Hugo not died. Please tell me?”

  “Oliver, you are persistent on this. You can be a bulldog when you get your teeth into something. Now, I think Hugo would have grown up like our later children. He would have been a good man, like you, and he would have had a family and we would have had other grandchildren,” Myrtle said. She wiped a few tears from her old eyes.

  “So Arvin and Simo would have had a much much older brother, and they would have been uncles.” Oliver commented thoughtfully.

  “And our grandchildren, Lyudmila, Natalya, Maria, and Carlos would have had more cousins,” Myrtle said. “It was not to be. Fate had it that Hugo and so many others died. That is why we have the quarantine now. I am glad our grandchildren are safe.”

  “Are they? I know what happened long again, but that is part of what I mean. Well, I am not sure exactly what I do mean. I just wonder if they are truly safe. The men were saying that the smugglers have stopped coming here because they have all died from a new Outbreak. There is talk that the Central Planning Office shut it all down just to stop this new disease from coming here. Some say the CPO itself is threatened. Things are happening. Weird and strange things, like the brown lake water last month, it is all connected.”

  Myrtle reached up a wrinkled hand and stroked Oliver’s face. “Oh my dear, you worry so much, and that Theodore fool has filled your head with these silly notions. Brown water?” She snorted her derision. “Did you see any of that brown water? I did not. No one I know actually saw that brown water. It is all just silly old men wagging their tongues and trying to relive the glory days of youth.”

  Oliver looked hurt and cast his eyes down.

  For a while they sat quietly watching the ducks and geese swim in the waters of the river, and seeing the budding trees around them. A rabbit hop-stepped across the trail in a leisurely manner.

  “I am sorry I brought it up,” Oliver finally said, but did not look at Myrtle.

  Reaching to hug him, but having some difficulty in getting her old body to fit, she wrapped an arm around him. “Now I should not be so harsh. I too am sorry. It has just been so long ago. Of course, we both miss Hugo, and he would have been a proud and strong man. We would have been proud of him, but he died and our lives went on. Thus is life here in C Habitat, the Woods. So please my dear, do not let the jabbering of that old cretin trouble you so.”

  “You are right. Theodore was saying he knew a man who traveled from Penza, and that man said that the whole town of Penza knew about the brown water. He had a friend who saw the brown water out in that lake called Walled Depths. Said it was not normal or natural. I know, none of us have ever been to that end of the habitat. He did sound sincere,” Oliver said.

  “Theodore is sincerely a fool. He made the whole thing up to have something to talk about. No, I take that back, he is not smart enough to make up a realistic story, someone must have told him the story and he repeated it like a hill myna. His brain is no bigger than a bird’s anyway,” Myrtle said. “If there was any brown poisoned water, then it was an industrial spill and the vodnees took care of it quickly and easily. As a former engineer, I know that could happen.”

  “Yes, and as a former biologist, I know a virus can mutate and change. I always had my doubts about Vaccine 731. But the Epidemic Prevention and Habitat Purification Department insisted on using it. And then the Roe happened. They said we would be immune, but that is not what happened.” Oliver paused. “My dear Myrtle, we are both beyond the times to worry about such things. I am sorry to have mentioned Hugo. Now if we are to meet our son Arvil, we best continue our walk.”

  The couple stood up, assisting each other and continued their walk along the path. The clear waters of the Woods River ran gently by. There were occasional fish seen in the light of the sky tube where it shone down on the water. The bullheads gently swam upstream while the flow of the river passed them by. They barely swished their tails to the side enough to stay in roughly the same place. The ducks ignored the fish and stayed closer to the shore.

  A short while later, at a junction of walking trails, they approached a man in a dark green uniform.

  “Arv
in, we have finally made it here,” Myrtle said.

  “Mother and father! It is a lovely day. How are you two?” Arvin replied. His gamekeeper uniform was neat and tidy. His medium length black hair was just showing some signs of gray at the temples and was thinning on the top.

  Oliver hugged his son, and then so did Myrtle.

  “Sharina made your favorite lunch,” Arvin said and handed a basket to his parents. “I am sorry I cannot stay to eat with you today.”

  “Arvin, you always have lunch with us the day before rain day. What is so busy and important that you cannot eat with your elderly parents?” Oliver asked as he also pouted out his lip. “It may be the last chance you have. At our ages, one never knows.”