Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles)

by James Jackson

  Cindy gapes at the many stars in view, her jaw drops a little. “Twenty-two thousand!” She says incredulously.

  “Yes, but that’s not the worst of it.” Andrew motions to Joe, and palms off the next piece of bad news for him to report.

  Joe gulps and then states forlornly. “We can’t go home in a straight line. Accurate scans are possible to a radius of twenty light years. So we need to travel from star to star to make sure we don’t run into a rogue planet, or asteroid. Quite frankly it’s a miracle we didn’t run into anything getting here.”

  Cindy looks at the damage visible on the forward section of the ship and says, “Perhaps we did Joe.”

  John fidgets in his chair then cringes before adding his own comments. “In addition to this, we can’t travel at the ship’s top speed anymore. The option is no longer available on any of the consoles. Our best speed looks to be five or six.”

  Cindy sits in her chair as she absorbs everything. “Okay. So what’s the worst case scenario for us?”

  Andrew gulps now. “Well at speed five, we’re looking at a tad under six years. Speed six, well our best estimate is one year, but that does not include stops to recharge.”

  Cindy bites at her lower lip. “Well, let’s fix the ship and get moving.”

  Joe turns to Cindy again. “We have an idea on how to do just that. The American shuttles could carry George and Olaf in the cargo bays attached to the swing arms. The shuttles can get the two of them to each damaged section. Once they seal the holes from the outside, we can pressurize the compartments, allowing crews to start repairs on the inside.”

  Cindy smiles and finishes off his thoughts. “Then George and Olaf can come back inside and complete the work while we get moving. I love your plan.”

  John gets up to leave, but Cindy stops him. “We need you here, let the other crews fly the shuttles, that is why they’re here!”

  John sits back down, but not before casting her a, ‘you sure’, look. Cindy nods her head, she needs her best at the helm of the Terran.

  Olaf’s suit takes little time to charge once it is connected directly to the ship’s power grid, allowing the unusual plan to commence quite quickly. Two American shuttles slowly force their way through the navigation shields. The noise reverberates throughout the main hangar as their thrusters push them through. The scene is almost absurd. The shuttles appear punitive and fragile as they maneuver out from under the ship.

  Edwards pilots the Atlanta toward the forward section where he rolls the shuttle over so as to be inverted over the Terran. He waits for the navigation shields to be deactivated prior to edging closer. He opens the shuttle’s cargo bay doors, allowing the swing arm to slowly extend toward the Terran’s hull. George, who is secured to the tip of the swing arm, feels his makeshift restraints shift, but then they hold.

  George is easily able to see where the plating has separated. The welds that connect the Gamin armor to Earth’s efforts have broken. As George repairs section upon section, he finds the same scenario over and over. As for the loose plate that collided with the bridge tower, it juts out, having impaled the structure like an arrow. Removing the debris takes some time, but eventually it is out, allowing George to conduct his repairs.

  Olaf, for his part, finds the experience quite daunting. He glances to the command section where Aaron is piloting. I hope you’re good at your job. He cannot help but wonder as he is brought to within an arm’s length of the ship’s hull.

  As Olaf and George seal each outer hull plate, Joe pressurizes the sections, and then gives the repair teams access. These teams use every tool at their disposal as they remove internal hull plates, allowing easier access to the damaged sections. Once done they move on, leaving the actual repairs for George and Olaf to perform later with the use of their suits.

  On the Road Again

  Eight dead. Cindy gazes at the bodies lying in what has become a morgue. Seven died from radiation poisoning. Another nine are not expected to survive their exposure either.

  Cindy considers what they can do for them. “We can’t leave them here for who knows how long. We will have to lay them to rest in space.”

  Henry reluctantly nods in agreement. “I suggest we wait a short time, a few days.” He nods in the direction of his infirmary.

  Cindy frowns in confusion, then in horror, understands him all too well. “Yes. Let me know when you are ready.” She responds as she casts her eyes downward.

  Cindy ponders the moral dilemma. By waiting until those that are beyond help to die, she will be sparing the crew multiple burial services. There will just be one large service, when they are ready.

  “Henry, I understand that we have to ration our medical supplies. But do what you can for those that are suffering.” Cindy states compassionately.

  Henry silently nods. His many years as an herbalist have served him well. He recalls a time that Radclyf received a nasty wound. The bullet having gone straight through his leg, but without medical treatment, he would have been in deep trouble. In addition, the tropical forest they were in was speeding up the infection considerably. However, the forest also afforded a few plants that Henry was able to use. ‘Pots’, he smiles at his own nickname, then saddens a little at his upcoming task. The men who are beyond hope, thanks to their massive doses of radiation, chew the leaves given to them silently. Henry cannot even stay in the room with them for long, his own radiation meter steadily climbs upward when he does. The leaves do their task painlessly and quickly. A merciful ending.

  The next day, Cindy assembles the entire crew inside the massive hangar area. Her speech is short as she tries to convey the right sentiments. She only hopes that she has done enough. Each of the seventeen dead is encased in a metallic coffin. How George made these is beyond Cindy. He not only made the coffins, but also engraved each occupant’s name onto the caskets.

  With as much ceremony as is possible, George pushes each one through the navigation shields and into space. The many trips up and down the ramp drives home the dangers of this mission to all.

  Crews continue to work day and night repairing lose hull plates. Meanwhile, Olaf struggles with repairs to the nuclear reactors, some have fared better than others. Reluctantly, he and George decide to shut three of the reactors down completely.

  While everyone else has been busy, Radclyf has been spending a lot of time brooding in the mess area. He leaves no one in doubt as to what would happen should he find any more terrorists. His demeanor is making some people nervous, so Cindy heads down to speak with him. She finds him sitting alone, humming some faint tune while staring into a cup. She can’t discern what he is humming, but it sounds vaguely familiar.

  “Mind if I join you?” Cindy asks politely.

  Radclyf stops humming and gazes at her blankly. “If you insist,” he says, his voice devoid of any emotion.

  “What were you humming?” Cindy asks, hoping to break his cheerlessness.

  “Hmm. Oh that? Just a little something my grandfather used to sing. He was a soldier in the first World War.” Radclyf quietly sings a few verses. “It’s a long way to Tipperyary, It’s a long way to go. It’s a long way to Tipperyary, to the sweetest girl I know!” He offers her a thin smile and says, “The song seems fitting to our circumstance.”

  Cindy smiles as she recalls the last lines of the song. It’s a long way to Tipperyary, but my heart’s right there. She stands and smiles at Radclyf.

  “Yes it is fitting.” Cindy states.

  Cindy leaves the mess hall knowing that Radclyf will be fine, he is simply coping with their predicament in his own way.

  Meanwhile, Joe and George make their way to the main engine area. The walkway ends at a solid wall. Without even hesitating, George crafts a tool with his suit and inserts it into the three holes that are in the wall. The holes form a triangle with its point at the top. Seconds later, a hissing sound is followed by the wall retracting back, then sliding sideways into a wall space. George disengages the tool as he and Joe
smell the unmistakable odor of something electrical or mechanical that is burned. Walking down the length of the corridor, they stare at the alien drive system before them. A huge long cylinder that gives off a dull blue-green hue runs as far as they can see.

  Surrounding this cylinder that is easily two decks in height, are a series of what could only pass as coils. George tries to compare what he sees to his first inspection. Back then though, the ship was unpowered, thus everything had the same dull grey color. He and Joe shrug their shoulders.

  Joe studies the engine intently before offering his thoughts. “Well, it’s not buggered, just a little cooked. If the other one is the same, we should be good to go.”

  George smiles at the Australian slang. “I can’t see anything obviously broken either.”

  George is about to leave when he unexpectedly turns to Joe. “Stay here,” he says, then, leaving a baffled Joe behind, he goes to his quarters.

  It does not take George long to find the thin alien device, nor long to get back to the main engines. For Joe, the twenty minutes feels like an eternity, but he was satisfied to just stare at the marvelous feat of engineering before him.

  George holds up the thin object, metallic on one side and black on the other. Hoping that the device works, he taps the screen and is rewarded with a series of symbols. He and Joe spend many minutes figuring out the small tablet-like device. They can only stare in stunned silence when they discover the unit’s function.

  As the hairs raise on the back of his neck, Joe says to George. “What are the odds of that being a main engine control unit?”

  George shakes his head from side to side. “All I know is that with this we can run a diagnostic, which may self-correct any abnormalities.”

  “Well,” Joe says dubiously. “We really have nothing to lose, go for it.”

  George touches the diagnostic icon. They both watch the device intently as symbols come and go at a phenomenal speed. Minutes later, the unit displays an unintelligible message. George runs the message through his suit’s visor, which relays the words into the Gamin language. The tiny translator does the rest, George smiles.

  Joe frowns a little in confusion at this and asks curiously. “You can understand their language?”

  “The engines are damaged, but now calibrated. We should return every few jumps and rerun the utility.” George states, ignoring Joe’s question.

  George’s wide grin beams from ear to ear. The little alien device automatically draws power when near the one piece of equipment it was designed to operate with. The second engine has the same burned odor about it, but again nothing seems to be out of place or broken. George activates the device once more, and touches the diagnostics symbol. After a while, it too reports that the engine has been recalibrated. They seal the passageways and report their findings to Cindy. Joe is bothered by George’s failure to answer his question, but is grateful that he can do what he does.

  An entire week passes before Cindy is satisfied with the status of the ship. With her bridge crew assembled, she smiles as she relays her message through the ship’s speakers. “We’re a long way from home people, but the Terran will get us there. Report anything unusual, immediately. Prepare for main drive activation.”

  Cindy looks at John to see him grinning from ear to ear. Frowning in mild confusion, she orders. “Punch it.”

  As John touches his panel and activates the main drive, Andrew digs into his pocket. He hands over a folded twenty dollar bill to John, who upon seeing the Australian currency, bursts out laughing.

  “What,” Andrew says feigning innocence. “We agreed on twenty.”

  Cindy is almost as relieved by their banter, as she is to see the beautiful spectrum of colors once again.

  Cindy watches Joe carefully as she issues her orders to John with confidence. “Build us up to speed five.”

  “Factor five, yes ma’am.” John replies immediately.

  Factor. Cindy likes the sound of that. “Factor five it is.”

  Joe busily monitors the reactors while Andrew gauges their course. George and Joe exchange a quick look of relief as the main engines continue to operate as they usually do.

  The ship does not shake or shudder as it did earlier during the high-speed jaunt, which also adds to the crew’s confidence. Some thirty hours later, John disengages the main drive, which shifts the ship down to sub-light speeds. Everyone on the bridge breathes a sigh of relief as the usual shudder is felt through the deck plates. The Terran barely moves forward while the reactors recharge the main drive’s capacitors. Being down three reactors impacts this a little, but not as much as Joe had expected.

  George and Joe take this down time to re-examine both main engines. The two men are overjoyed to find that the burning smell has lessened, and indeed, the blue-green hue is brighter than when they inspected the drives last time. They rerun the calibration utility from the slim Gamin device.

  The days turn into weeks as the ship makes small hop after small hop. Repairs go well as the crew becomes accustomed to the routine. A few of the crew are quite busy though, and Radclyf is one of them. It has taken him almost three weeks, but finally he has found what he has been searching for. The bedding indicates that a single occupant had slept here. Many of the items that had been reported missing litter the area, as if stolen for no reason other than the desire to steal. A few of the crew had reported seeing the saboteur in the mess hall, but each had thought him with one department or another. Radclyf looks for signs of recent occupancy and can find none. He sleeps well that night, satisfied at last that there are no more hostiles aboard.

  Chapter Five - Salvage

  Location:

  Ground Control

  Outback

  Western Australia

  General Hayes stares at his orders for a long time before putting them down. With a mild sadness he strolls outside, stops, and then stares at the bright blue skies overhead. He ignores the odd looks people give him, he does not even return any salutes. His eyes wander to the few clouds, then down to the alien construction dock. He smiles as he observes activity in the distance.

  Putting his hands in his pockets, he walks off to look for the few remaining families belonging to the crew of the Terran. Finding the families is not difficult, and he instructs each one to go to a meeting room. Lisa brings Johnny to this gathering, she is hoping for the best, but fears the worst.

  General Walker takes a deep breath, and then begins his speech. “You all know the Terran made a close pass to Earth, during which time the ship sent out a transmission. Our best scientists are unable to determine why the ship did not stop. We are not going to give up on them, but other matters have become quite pressing. There are fears that this facility may become a target for some sort of attack. To this end, you are all to be evacuated.”

  Lisa stands up, her mouth agape. “You’re just going to toss us all out?”

  “No. No!” The General replies raising his hand. “We will provide accommodations for any of you that wish it, just not here.”

  Lisa stares at General Hayes with grim determination. “And just what are your plans for the Terran?”

  The General meets her gaze, and then for the first time in his life, he looks away. “We have yet to come up with any.”

  “Well.” Lisa replies convincingly. “We will have to help you military people come up with one, won’t we?”

  The General has stared down mortal enemies, held firm to Presidents and the leaders of many countries, but her steadfast gaze is something else.

  “Yes.” Walker ventures back, “However back to my main point. You are all to prepare for departure by the end of the week.”

  Lisa looks down at Johnny, who is wearing his father’s jacket despite it being much too big for him, and smiles. The Terran’s emblem, with its scaly three clawed hand, a reminder to them all of the alien race that left the partially built spaceship behind. She reflects on the circumstances that led them to this point, then leads her son back to their
quarters.

  Location:

  Starship Terran

  Twenty One Thousand Light Years from Earth

  John is quite pleased with their progress. Working closely with Andrew and Joe the three of them have been able to balance the Terran’s speed with its available energy reserves. With power being their only limitation to a speedy return home, Olaf approaches George with a risky proposal to boost the ship’s power from the reactors they shut down. After much debate, they decide to wait until all the minor repairs throughout the ship are completed.

  Dropping to sub-light speeds yet again, Cindy watches the colorful display switch to the dull white dots of the distant suns.

  Andrew suddenly bolts upright straight in his chair. “Uh, one of the stars on my console is flashing.”

  Joe leans over to look at the blinking star. The Gamin terminal is able to detect stars to twenty light years, and this one is inside that radius.

  Cindy steps over to Andrew’s console to see for herself. “How far away is it?’ She asks curiously, as she stares at the Gamin display.

  Andrew taps on the flashing star and after a moment’s review of the data, he grins back at her. “It’s a G-Type star about eleven light years away, twenty hours or so should see us there.”

  Cindy looks over her shoulder to catch George’s eye. He slowly shakes his head from side to side. The flashing star is a mystery to him as well.

  With reservation clearly in his voice, George tells them what he does know. “The solar system is marked as habitable and undesirable at the same time.” He shrugs his shoulders and more to himself than anyone else adds, “I don’t get it though.”

  “How far out of our way is it?” Cindy’s curiosity building.

  Joe taps away at his laptop before answering. “Would add a day or two to our trip, it’s really not that far off our course,” he adds enthusiastically.